Why do parents have to buy school supplies in public schools?

[Anonymous]

My child just entered public school and there is a list of items that we are supposed to send in, such as tissues and hand sanitizers. It is my understanding that these supplies are pooled in the classroom, so it is not the case that these supplies are for individual use.

I cannot imagine it is cost-effective for the schools to beg from the parents in this way. Moreover, --wouldn't it be more economical for the schools to buy these items in bulk? It's quite expensive and if families are poor, it is not cheap to buy lysol wipes or boxes of tissues.

Why do our school taxes not cover school supply expenses? Surely this is something that could be budgeted for.

[Anonymous]

If parents don’t purchase the supplies, the teachers often have to do it.

I worked in a public school that provided no supplies for teachers. I had to purchase copy paper, tissue paper, class sets of composition books, books for my classroom library, etc. I also needed basic decorations for walls and all of my own supplies (whiteboard markers, pens, etc.). I spent close to $800 a year at that school, and was still told by an administrator that I didn’t decorate my classroom enough.

I don’t work for that district anymore.

[Anonymous]

You shouldn’t have to at all. The schools supply them (tissues at least). I wonder the same thing. They also get a budget from the school for supplies but you wouldn’t know that with all the begging and complaining some teachers do online.

[Anonymous]

In both private and public, families are asked to bring stuff. I like it. It allows me to buy good quality things for my kids and their peers. As a lover of all things stationery and pens, it's important to me that little kids get pencils that don't squeak, erasers that actually erase without marks, and glue sticks that don't dry out immediately.

[Anonymous]

OP here, good to know that there are general supplies and this is just a supplement. My kid's school is supposed to be very good, although it is a Title I school.

To clarify I don't mind sending in supplies, I just did not know if otherwise the children would be going without hand santiizer, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t have to at all. The schools supply them (tissues at least). I wonder the same thing. They also get a budget from the school for supplies but you wouldn’t know that with all the begging and complaining some teachers do online.

I’m the teacher who just posted. I never received a budget for supplies the 12 years I worked at that school. I asked for supplies every year, and every year I was told that if they gave me supplies they would have to budget supplies for everyone.

Do not deny my reality. I lived it. You did not. And no, I am not begging or complaining. I was simply answering the OP’s question. When schools don’t want to budget for supplies, it gets passed on to teachers and parents.

[Anonymous]

In my town there are kids school supplies drives so poor kids have them. Go figure. Deep blue NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Don't buy it right away.

Wait until November or December. Then ask the teacher if you can help by sending in anything.

At my school district there are always basic cleaning supplies and housekeeping but the teachers don't get the branded disposable wipes for intra-day cleaning (which they want for the same reasons people have them at home). And the principal had a shortfall in funds for printer paper. So she liked to put printer paper reams on the list for every grade so it wasn't a headache for her.

I live in a mediumly o.k. district. Not wealthy. About 30-50% of the supplies I purchased according to beginning of the year lists ended up getting wasted. I would see the piles outside the classroom of supplies the teacher was making available to peers or overflowing cabinets at open house time.

So I started asking in the middle of the fall and responded more generously when ad hoc requests come in.

Teachers need to stop requiring composition notebooks. They cost a fortune if you don't get them on sale, and they are hard to repurpose. So far across two kids, only one teacher has managed to keep my kids using them past October. Marker sets for kids are also underutilized/too plentiful.

Lysol wipes, dry erase markers, and kleenex always get used. And printer paper if requested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, good to know that there are general supplies and this is just a supplement. My kid's school is supposed to be very good, although it is a Title I school.

To clarify I don't mind sending in supplies, I just did not know if otherwise the children would be going without hand santiizer, etc.

Probably they would not go without because the teacher would donate. But other than during covid, I have never worked at a school the provided hand sanitizer for classrooms.

[Anonymous]

You don’t have to buy anything beyond what your child uses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t have to at all. The schools supply them (tissues at least). I wonder the same thing. They also get a budget from the school for supplies but you wouldn’t know that with all the begging and complaining some teachers do online.

I’ve never worked in a school that supplied tissues. If we run out, either the teacher has to buy more or we request donations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, good to know that there are general supplies and this is just a supplement. My kid's school is supposed to be very good, although it is a Title I school.

To clarify I don't mind sending in supplies, I just did not know if otherwise the children would be going without hand santiizer, etc.

Really? At a Title 1 school, you did not know this?

[Anonymous]

We are at a low FARMs school, more MC and UMC students, and we provide school supplies at the begining of the year. We receive emails asking for additional school supplies throughout the year. Schools do not provide basic supplies to Teachers, if parents don't send supplies then the Teachers buy the supplies.

If you don't provide supplies, then your kids Teacher will have to do so. It is as simple as that. It is why I don't complain about being asked to contribute to gifts for Teachers, I suspect a good amount of the gift card money they receive ends up being spent in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, good to know that there are general supplies and this is just a supplement. My kid's school is supposed to be very good, although it is a Title I school.

To clarify I don't mind sending in supplies, I just did not know if otherwise the children would be going without hand santiizer, etc.

You don't know that, OP. It varies by school. Maybe the teachers do go without if parents don't bring enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You shouldn’t have to at all. The schools supply them (tissues at least). I wonder the same thing. They also get a budget from the school for supplies but you wouldn’t know that with all the begging and complaining some teachers do online.

I’ve never worked in a school that supplied tissues. If we run out, either the teacher has to buy more or we request donations.

Me, either. I am a specialist at a Title I school and I have to purchase massive boxes from Costco once a quarter.

As a PP said, if the supplies aren’t provided, in general, the teacher foots the bill (I did $300 in buying school supplies for my classroom today alone. Nothing cute, just tissue, crayons, sanitizer, pencils, colored paper for fliers home, etc.). I do agree that school budgets should pay for these things, but are you prepared for the increase in taxes that will require?