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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Honest question here - FTM of a 2-year-old so I really am this clueless: why are parents buying all these basic classroom supplies instead of the schools? How did this come about? I've been reading all these threads thinking, WTF? As a kid we used those ancient, crummy, but heavy-duty old craft scissors with green rubber handles, huge pots of paste, oaktag paper, etc. - all provided by the school. How is it possible that every parent needs to buy scissors all the freaking time? This just seems weird to me, and I wonder when this shift happened. Granted I went to public school in a middle- to upper-m.c. New England suburb, so maybe that's the entire answer. Is this every public school in every DC/MD/Va district? I can see providing craft supplies for your own kid, but [b]bulk offerings for the whole school?[/b] [/quote]

You are not asked to provide bulk offerings for the whole school.  The teacher may have a class set of scissors, for example, but materials get lost/broken/taken home all the time.  I agree that some of the lists seem a little bit lengthy, but there are usually reasons teachers are asking for specific things that you may not understand until you see the organizational system of the classroom.  These are not contracts, people. If you do not want to purchase something then don't purchase it.

I am the teacher PP who explained about buying the $35 pencil sharpener when I have $200 to buy educational supplies for the entire year. There are no hand-cranked pencil sharpeners in my building, so we do put a 69 cent individual pencil sharpener on our supply lists.   If I am buying class sets of scissors, pencils, crayons, markers, glue sticks etc. for the entire class to last the entire school year, that will leave absolutely no money for anything beyond extremely basic supplies.

I am a teacher and a parent, and I just don't understand all of the drama surrounding the school supply list. As a teacher, I can usually figure out why a teacher is asking for something specific. But I also use common sense. If the 24 pack of crayons is on sale for 49 cents and the 16 pack of crayons costs $2.00, then I'm buying the 24 pack. [/quote]

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