I'm not a teacher, but I can tell you that a friend of mine teaches at an inner-city school in a poor district, and says supplies in these situations are minimal.

In my school district (rural, not affluent), the school district provides everything teachers need. They'd better, considering the fat check I wrote last week for school taxes!

I can't say with 100% certainty (no kids in school), but I have heard they do provide, out of their own pocket, a lot of the things you mentioned. I'm not sure what the district(s)provide.

I also know the list parents get at the beginning of the school year has really gone "over the top"! The parents have to buy it..but are told not to put their childs name on it! Sorry..but if I buy it..my kids name WILL go on it!

At our school, teachers are given the basics, and other things have to come from their own pockets or from a very small stipend our PTA provides each teacher each year. The teachers often trade stuff around (decorations, etc.) when they get tired of it.

I cannot say why, but I would not be inclined to help the Craigs list people. Something about it just seems odd--like public begging. Although they really don't want the stuff for themselves, they are trying to enchance the classroom for their students.

s

Like others here, I am not a teacher, but my DIL is and the answer to your question is YES. They do purchase supplies out of their own pocket for things they feel like they need to teach their classes. I've lost track of the number of times I've been shopping with my DIL and she's filled up a basket with items for her classes not provided by the school system. Unfortunately, the schools that need it most also have children from homes where the parents aren't capable of contributing either. If asking for donations on Craigslist helps, then I'm all for it.

No. Our schools provide all necessary classroom materials. Our school taxes are high, but it does pay high salaries to teachers and well equipped schools. Education is very important in this district.

As a retired teacher, I can give you some insight into that situation. Each year in September we were given a meagre budget ($100) from which to order supplies for our classrooms. We had to order from a board-approved source and the taxes on those items had to be included in the $100 as well. Anything I needed over and above that came out of my own pocket. I estimate that I spent somewhere between $400 - $600 a year of my own money buying supplies for my students and classroom. Over a 30 year period that amounted to a fair amount of cash out of my pocket.

Our teachers pay quite a bit out of their own pocket. For some teachers I would guess it is the same as what Barb said. I've always donated for school causes but this year I'm also going to give my girls teachers a big gift certificate to their favorite class room supply store, unless they already have something they need and I can get it. The schools are pretty tight on cash.

I can't believe the list of supplies that are sent out each year for the paents to buy. They have started having school fairs to give out backpacks loaded with the needed supplies for needy children. Not sure how they prove that.

At one school the teacher stated for $15 she would buy the kindergarten supplies but parents had to buy the backpack. Now those "required" backpacks are quite pricey.

Apparently the schools provide very little as the lists for each grade ask for pens, pencils, paper, crayons, glue, scissors and on and one, mind boggling.

Also, on the list is hand sanitizer, baby wipes, paper towels,kleenex and disinfecting wipes.

You know, I can understand the student providing their personal-use items like crayons, tissue, paper, pens, etc. I guess because it's always been that way, even back when I was a kid. And at work we have a community relations team that takes donations and buys supplies for under-privileged students, so they have the basic needs and aren't singled out.

I do have issues when my high taxes don't cover the needs of the CLASSROOM, tho. No teacher should have to pay for these items herself (or himself).

Like many counties across the country, this past year one county in Missouri re-worked their personal property taxes for homeowners to take into consideration the drop in home values over the past year. And the surrounding school districts SUED that county because their funds dropped significantly. They wanted the county to pay the difference. Can you believe it? A judge threw the case out, and the county's lawyer even commented that with all the news in the past several months about home values dropping, they were amazed that the school districts didn't realize their own funds would drop accordingly. I'm just astounded these districts actually thought that homeowners should continue paying taxes for a $200,000 house when it was only worth in today's market $150,000. (or whatever the actual dollar amounts are).

Anyway, I appreciate the responses, I'm never sure on Craig's List whether people are sincere in their requests.

I got a curriculum, text books and some chalk.

I paid for everything else.

Gotta say, this thread shows the inequities in our public school system; wealthy districts generally have no problems with supplies, being able to easily raise extra $$ from parents if they don't get enough through taxes. This does not hold true for poorer districts. I also wonder how much goes to the administrations, and if there are too many costly and possibly unnecessary administrative positions in many districts. Not having enough money for supplies most definitely does NOT mean a district cares less about educating its children well.

I do not personally believe public school teachers would solicit donations on Craig's List. i would imagine if a public school needed supplies donated, they would do it via the local TV or newspapers, one of the big box stores, etc.

I would be suspicious of an ad like this.

I heard that our solders have to buy their personal supplies like shampoo, soap, etc. and that's not true. They just don't like what the government supplies. Probably none of the solders in other wars liked it much either, but they used them. I think it is the same with teachers. They have projects they want to do and the board of education no longer supplies these items. What they are doing on Cr4aig's List is begging, it would be a cold day in he** before I did that. I would buy what I wanted or do without. I don't believe it would affect a child's grades.

Well I have no issue with teachers asking for donations, especially if they aren't asking for brand-new specific items. Educational items are generally outgrown as a child learns so if people can pass them along after they're done using them, even to a school, why not? We do teach our children to reuse and recycle after all. Schools provide the basics, if that (those supply lists irk me). I think it's smart for a teacher to ask for donations. You certainly aren't forced to give.

Read Barbara3's post again and put Ya Ya on it, wouldya!?

The info she gave is exactly how it worked/works in my former school district.

At one time we were having to keep a running total of how much copy paper we were using. (Couldn't go over a certain limit.)

Friend of mine and I often wondered how people could teach without going to garage sales as we did! LOL

My teacher friends say that they get a small expense account for whatever they use in the classroom other than books. One friend says she gets $200 for the year, but she teaches in a poor school district, so she ends up spending several hundred dollars a year of her own money for supplies, including paper and pencils.

I've never seen ads on Craigslist for teachers looking for donations, but a couple of times, I've had a local teacher pick up things that I posted.

I worked in the admin of a local school. Mostly payroll, insurances, etc, but had to know how the rest of the money was spent.... It's always been true as far back as I can remember (even a student myself and that goes WAAAYYY back) that teachers provide a lot of the supplies in their classrooms. They get a VERY small stipend, and I've personally watched them pouring over catalogs to find the best values. And they go together to drive into the city to find items cheaper. And it's also true that they are given specific limitations on paper, pencils, etc....if they go over, and want/need more, they buy it themselves.

And then the parents side of it are 'the lists' of supplies required each fall, and more often if they're consumables or child loses what they brought in. And then they have the costs of workbooks for just about every subject. I remember how hard that was for me when my 3 were in school.

Shirley

A few years ago, when both my daufgters were in Elementsry school, the teachers sent home a letter requesting NO GIFTS from parents at Christmas and the end of the year (June), but instead to give gift certificates to a local school supply store. They wanted to use this money to buy stuff to use in their classrooms, to buy books for needy kids, etc. It broke my heart. When I was in school, teachers didn't have to beg. The district had enough to provide what they needed.

My daughter is a teacher and has to spend alot of her own money on supplies for her classroom. When I was a kid, we didn't even have a "list" of stuff to bring. Times have changed, for sure.

Well I have to agree..the budget given to purchase things is way to small for any classroom..even a well stocked seasoned teacher who's been teaching for years...The items a teacher buys are much more in the lower level grades than the higher level, especially in elementary.

I think some of these teachers are asking for games and books and things that they can put on the shelves for indoor recess and free time. I will often "donate" stuff to my favorite teachers at our elementary. The Kindy and 1st grade teachers need it the most!

Our school district puts out supply lists for every grade level, each school and sometimes a specific teacher. Those are basics like paper, pencils, pens, erasers, folders, binders, glue, markers and notebooks. Oh and a box of Kleenex. Some things depending on grade are just for the child to use, and some go into the "box" for the classroom.
Often a pocket folder asked for..because the teacher has already bought them to get the room ready, and those just replenish the stock for later in the school year.

All those cute buletin board decorations, name tags for the desk, or number and letter lines for the desk are usually purchased out of the teachers pocket and in grades K-2 usually need to be replaced part way through the school year..some kids will pick their apart and they need to be replaced much more often.

Little things nickel and dime the teachers expenses.

I have seen it recently on our Craigslist. As a retired Kindergarten teacher of 22 years, I can honestly say I wouldn't do it but I can see why teachers do. Our district has restricted what parents can be asked to send in for the last 3 years. In fact, there is a standard list for all the elementary grades which does not make sense. As a K teacher, I would not want a box of 24 crayons at the beginning of the year. They need to learn to care for 8 first. Imagine 20 kids losing 24 crayons on the floor!
Plus they don't need lined paper or notebooks.

The district gives each teacher a small amount to purchase items through their warehouse. Things like construction paper, copying paper, and glue, staples, thumbtacks, etc. It is never enough. We used to ask parents to send in things like paper towels, hand sanitizer, liquid soap, etc because at times the school would run low, the liquid soap was so watery it dripped out of the wall dispenser!

I spent an average of $10 a week on stuff to make learning fun, to have snacks for the kids who didn't bring any from home cause we would have lunch at 10:15 and they were hungry by 1:30 or lunch at 12:30 and they were hungry by 11, to have incentives for meeting goals, or just for class supplies.

So yes, teachers need help, they need support from their parents of their students, BUT I do not believe asking for it on Craiglist is right. I also do not like to see people in general asking for money to pay bills, or for donations in general. Just my opinion.

Terri....sounds like the school district where you are handles things the same way our district does. Every month a school newspaper is sent home and on the back is a list of needed supplies for certain classrooms. Binders, folders, glue sticks, paste, etc....it varies and we send what we can along with the other parents. The list of needed supplies for my grandson (3rd grader) has grown a bit from last year...tissues (3 boxes), hand sanitizer (3 pump bottles) a 24 pack of pencils (to be shared by classroom), a box of hi-lighters....etc...most of the things will be placed in a "kitty" and used by all. Our school district is in dire shape right now. Oh, and the book rental for the 3rd grade is $162.47......YIKES!!!!

Wow, your kids have to pay for books? So much for a free education. I think it's great that they ask you to share what you're able to bring. That way, no one feels badly for not being able to afford to contribute.

This is beside the point, but my dd is at a Catholic high school so we have to buy her books. Her French workbook, not textbook, was $125!!!!!! I'm so appalled and will be writing to the teacher.

My son's teacher informed me that the teachers in our school are given one box of copy paper at the beginning of the year, and one halfway throug the year. A box is 10 reems, or 5000 sheets. So at first I thought, wow, that sounds like enough. Then I did the math. It's not enough. I go in to copy for my kids teachers once a week. For my 6th grader last year it was typical for me to use an entire ream (500 sheets) for the week. She taught 4 classes of math (or about 115 students) and one of language arts (28) each day. So really, that's not even one copy per day per student.

I would often take paper from home to do the copies. By March, she was out, no more paper from the district and she'd gone through what she bought, too. So I bought a whole case for her.

They really aren't given enough supplies or funding to get the supplies. We are in a suburb, where I suspect the spending is about average. Probably some schools better off for supplies, and probably some worse. I give a lot to my kids' teachers b/c I know they are spending their own money. My DD's teacher this year taught 1st grade for 10 years and was moved to 4th. She has a good stock of 1st grade materials, much of it purchased with her own money. Now that sits in boxes and she has to start over gathering grade level materials for her classroom. She has the textbooks supplied by the district, of course. But no other books, educational games or activities, classroom decorations.

In the past every teacher in Georgia was given a Visa gift card from the state for $100, that was their budget unless the district added to it. Our PTA gives them $50 each. But I'm not sure that Visa card was given this year, I'd have to ask a teacher. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't, b/c the teachers were furloughed for 3 days to save $$. They lost planning days before school started. It was chaos!

I am scouting yard sales and used bookstores, and using my points at paperbackswap to get 4th grade level books to give to DD's teacher for the classroom.

I don't watch Craiglist, but I wouldn't have a problem donating to the school or the teachers either. I've been watching some of the other parents. The teachers get the burden of the irresponsible ones.

We haven't counted all the supply costs yet because we still have a few lists of extras we need to buy, but so far we've spent almost $250 for three elementary age kids. We also gave dd's kindergarten teacher $50 because we know she has already spent a lot on her students. We'll also donate to her and the other teachers throughout the year.

I teach at an inner-city elementary school, with most families below the poverty level.

The school's state and federal funding supplements what the district provides, and covers most of the daily classroom supplies, including books. Even so, I always end up buying some things out of my own pocket, as do most other teachers I know.

My understanding is that schools in middle-class neighborhoods qualify for less government funding, so teachers have to buy more themselves, and they are more apt to ask parents to contribute.

This has been very educational for me, thank you.

I live outside the metro area of Kansas City, so our Craig's List covers quite a lot of territory; from the more affluent areas to the inner city. In the future, I won't automatically dismiss the Craig's list postings requesting donations for a classroom.

The one thing that everyone can offer to their children's teacher is time. Time to go on a field trip, work concessions, repair and read. There are many things parents can do besides give money. If every parent were to give some time during the year, that would be another way to contribute to the classroom. I wish our school had a list of people who want to use their talents to improve the school. Painters, gardeners, people who just love to clean. Grandparents who want to get out, can come to the classes to read a couple times a week. I know there are a couple of grandmas that come by regularly to help out for half a day. In the elementary classrooms they can help the students who don't know how to write. (most of those kids don't have parents that can write or spell)
I can think of so many things I'd ask for if I were the full time teacher. I don't know why so many parents never make the time to help out. (well, I can say why for some, but that's another post)

I want the best for my kids and their friends, so this year I'm going to make it very clear to their teachers to call me up if they see something I can do.

Since I've been working in the school system I have an even higher opinion of our teachers, knowing what they have to put up with these days. Unfortunately it isn't for the better. Surprisingly, I'm seeing a resurgence in the younger parents requiring their children to act better. I'm crossing my fingers that respect from ALL students is coming into style again.

I'm hopping back in here to modify my previous response. I still don't see a problem in soliciting donations on craigslist as I stated before. I just want to say that, for those of you with reservations, ask for references and/or some proof that the request is coming from a legitimate source. Surely they wouldn't object to providing their teaching credentials or other proof of a school connection. Ask the name of their school and send the donation directly to the school. You could say something like "I'm sending this donation for (name of teachers') class". There are always ways of protecting yourself from the phonies out there waiting to rip you off and craigslist is probably full of them. You just take the same steps to protect yourself that you would if you were answering an ad for yourself. I would love for those people out there who don't pay school taxes and have children in school doing more to support the school. This is a way for them to help. Also, those who no longer have children in school and want to provide that extra help over and above what they pay in school tax could do this. Either when someone asks (as in a craigslist ad) or just periodically donate to your local school. Why wait to be asked?

There's a newspaper story in my local paper on just this subject. State aid is down and parents are asked to send supplies in on the first day of school, with their child, but not to spend more thanm $40. As I said, when I went to school back in the Stone Age (1950's and '60's) our taxes covered almost everything. The first day of school, I had a new bookbag and maybe a pencil box. My parents were never asked to provide materials for the class.

I used to teach at a private school, the parents paid a supply fee equivalent to a months tuition.(quite a bit) We received a small box of crayons and a small pack of construction paper per student. The parents were asked to send a box of tissues and wipes per child. We were not allowed to makes any copies. After a few years DH said enough, it was costing too much for me to work!

Our district has a wonderful volunteer program, especially for such a large district and poor areas. You havee to be approved, fingerprinted, and your records checked for felonies. This is all because of the problems in our society today. Anyway, I was always fortunate to have parents who would come in to help prepare materials for me, help with center activities when I needed extra eyes and ears and hands, as well as going on field trips, etc.
These same parents would bring in supplies for the children who didn't bring in any from home. When our district went to uniforms, local organizations collected clothes to give to those who could not afford to buy them Now these are not expensive ones like private schools have, they are just basic t-shirts and the shorts/pants, skirts, and jumpers could be bought at Wal-Mart or Target and were the same colors throughout the district. They are now even allowed to wear jeans. The t shirts can't have anything on them unless its the school name and logo.

Well, our school would start getting calls at the end of the year with parents wanting to get clothes for the next year. It has ended up that schools provide (with the help of local organizations) not only the tops and bottoms but socks and underwear! Parents would send the kids to school NOT in uniforms knowing that the school would have the kids change and then the parents would not send the clothes back. It seems the more you do for the people, the more they expect. If everyone would just send in what is asked, it would be alot better but in a class of 20, I would probably have 5 or 6 that wouldn't bring in the first thing. Of course you can't fault the child but when you see the parents smoking or having designer handbags or shoes, it makes you really stop and think where their priorities are.

My mom used to drive school bus in the inner city during the 80's and 90's. During the summer when she'd go to garage sales she stocked up on hats, mittens and boots (we live in Minnesota). She said it was sad the way so many kids didn't have the proper outer wear. At first she just thought they weren't wearing it, but was told many times that they didn't have it. So it inspired her to collect warm clothing to give away. She did a lot for those kids besides clothing, too! It was kind of her calling.

Our local TV station is doing their annual Coats for Kids drive and already have almost 400 coats from infant to ??? They take them to a cleaners, there they get checked out than some of the organizations like Salvation Army hands them out. Last year more coats were donated than needed, but did eventually find homes.
As to other donations--what bothers me is some teachers/districts not only have list, but tell them what brand to buy etc. Yes the teachers do buy alot of supplies, but there are many ways to help and that is where a good PTA or any other organization can help. Where I use to be very active in PTA, we had several fund raising events and all the money went to the school. No selling candy, or other stuff, but book fairs, carnivals, etc. Every teacher got their share, and all had to be approved. We even had a committee of parents, school officials and school personal to help keep track of things, and it did work.

I don't know about other states, but in Indiana teachers can declare they've spent so much "i don't know amount> as a tax deduction. I assume it's a state thing. There are also some 'teacher warehouses' in the area. If you have things to donate or want to make donations to your local schools, just call the district's main office & ask for ideas.
I found cases of notebooks for sale at Goodwill last year [50 notebooks for $5] and bought a couple. Gave one to a teacher solicting donations for a silent auction and one to my DH's school.

I'm not a teacher but the list of stuff the kids have to bring in grows every year. Not only do they want baby wipes, tissue, along with the crayons, etc...they are now asking for toilet paper! I couldn't believe that when I saw a co-workers list for her daughter's school. It's getting ridiculous.

You should see the 'Lost and Found' box -- well, actually it's a large closet -- at my DS's old grammar school. By the end of the year it is *packed* with stuff. There are thousdands of dollars of clothes and goods in there! No parents can be bothered to come looking for Bobby's Polo jacket or Susie's $50 art book. Maybe those in affluent areas could find a way to 'recycle' these forgotten items to poor kids in other districts. Our police department used to auction off hudreds of 'lost' bikes every year too. Nobody came looking for them; they just bought their kids new ones.

DIL teaches junior high in the inner city. She buys lots of supplies and reward incentives out of her own money. Her kids have no books at home. She's always on the lookout for cheap secondhand books for her room's 'lending library'. Next time I see her I'm going to ask what's in the 'Lost and Found' at her school. I bet it's nothing, or there isn't one.

My youngest sister is a first grade teacher and she provides a lot of stuff out of her own funds.