Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. You don’t tip professionals. I don’t to my doctor, my lawyer, ny dentist, my therapist or my accountant. All of the above work hard and I am grateful for how they help me. I put teachers in the above group of highly educated people.

I tip or gift people who provide personal services for me and my family.

I’m not militant about this, but there is an air of noblesse oblige about it, especially in the wealthier schools and neighborhoods. ‘The poor teachers work so hard and aren’t paid enough.’ If you think that work should be more highly compensated, fight for policy changes to make that so for every teacher.

But those are all people you, personally, pay directly from your own bank account. A public school teacher is a public employee who works closely with your child. The relationship is quite different.

If you're more comfortable not gifting, that's totally fine! But why do so many people who don't want to give teacher gifts feel the need to drop their two cents (or outright freak out) in a thread where people who *do* want to get something are sharing ideas?

Anonymous wrote:NP. You don’t tip professionals. I don’t to my doctor, my lawyer, ny dentist, my therapist or my accountant. All of the above work hard and I am grateful for how they help me. I put teachers in the above group of highly educated people.

I tip or gift people who provide personal services for me and my family.

I’m not militant about this, but there is an air of noblesse oblige about it, especially in the wealthier schools and neighborhoods. ‘The poor teachers work so hard and aren’t paid enough.’ If you think that work should be more highly compensated, fight for policy changes to make that so for every teacher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t get it twisted: when parents give gifts they are trying to gain favor. That is why you don’t take gifts as an government employee.
Ps- I don’t think gift takers ‘suck at life’. Who says that??
Why do boundaries & ethics trouble you so much?

Oh, come on. Is it really so hard to believe that some families just want to say "thank you" to a teacher who has done a great job for their kid this year? My kid is in pre-K and trust me, we're not trying to get inflated grades with a handwritten card and a district-approved $20 Target gift card or whatever. We literally just want to say "we appreciate everything you've done."

I feel like the pandemic is making people paranoid and vicious, especially online when they can be anonymous, and this thread is my Exhibit A. Good grief, what a lot of screaming over nothing.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t get it twisted: when parents give gifts they are trying to gain favor. That is why you don’t take gifts as an government employee.
Ps- I don’t think gift takers ‘suck at life’. Who says that??
Why do boundaries & ethics trouble you so much?

Anonymous wrote:Don’t get it twisted: when parents give gifts they are trying to gain favor. That is why you don’t take gifts as an government employee.
Ps- I don’t think gift takers ‘suck at life’. Who says that??
Why do boundaries & ethics trouble you so much?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not an imposter. I care about my job. I’m not 20.
I tell them thank you so much, but DC government (you know, our employer) has a policy about accepting gifts. And as a government employee I can’t accept gifts over $20.
I’m sorry that your co-workers or kids teachers don’t act with integrity. Also, I’m not a child who needs a tip. I make just north of $100,000 and have a really comfortable life.
When I was younger I would have snatched up the $$ but thankfully I was at a Title 1 school & never had the chance.

You sound absolutely ridiculous. We’re taking about GIFTS here-not tips, not something that’s been manipulated or cajoled out of families but something that’s being given freely in the spirit of the greatest good will. That you have no understanding of what gift giving is, the heart of the giver, and how to be GRACIOUS says that mentally you may be much younger than 20.

It would be interesting to know how you were socialized growing up because YUCK.

And yes I still believe you’re parading as a parent. Your posts do not reflect the heart of a teacher or a decent human beings. I can’t imagine being so difficult a person would have a problem giving me a gift. Learn to value yourself and the feelings of others.

When people give a gift it’s not about YOU but about their desire to share a part of themselves with you. I threw that lesson on humanity in there for free.

You’re welcome.

Not the OP but I think the teacher thing is along the line of tipping and needs to go, too much stress, got out of hand, and so many folks working for less! We keep tipping in stores for what, teacher appreciation is already a thing, that's enough! And enough vitriol, this is just an opinion, if people want to give sure but why do you needs threads and posts and endless debates about what to give a teacher every year!

Anonymous wrote:9:58
As a government employee you are BOUND by ethical regulations. Teachers like you kill it for us. You demand respect- and presents!!!
This is why we can’t have nice things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not an imposter. I care about my job. I’m not 20.
I tell them thank you so much, but DC government (you know, our employer) has a policy about accepting gifts. And as a government employee I can’t accept gifts over $20.
I’m sorry that your co-workers or kids teachers don’t act with integrity. Also, I’m not a child who needs a tip. I make just north of $100,000 and have a really comfortable life.
When I was younger I would have snatched up the $$ but thankfully I was at a Title 1 school & never had the chance.

You sound absolutely ridiculous. We’re taking about GIFTS here-not tips, not something that’s been manipulated or cajoled out of families but something that’s being given freely in the spirit of the greatest good will. That you have no understanding of what gift giving is, the heart of the giver, and how to be GRACIOUS says that mentally you may be much younger than 20.

It would be interesting to know how you were socialized growing up because YUCK.

And yes I still believe you’re parading as a parent. Your posts do not reflect the heart of a teacher or a decent human beings. I can’t imagine being so difficult a person would have a problem giving me a gift. Learn to value yourself and the feelings of others.

When people give a gift it’s not about YOU but about their desire to share a part of themselves with you. I threw that lesson on humanity in there for free.

You’re welcome.

Anonymous wrote:I’m not an imposter. I care about my job. I’m not 20.
I tell them thank you so much, but DC government (you know, our employer) has a policy about accepting gifts. And as a government employee I can’t accept gifts over $20.
I’m sorry that your co-workers or kids teachers don’t act with integrity. Also, I’m not a child who needs a tip. I make just north of $100,000 and have a really comfortable life.
When I was younger I would have snatched up the $$ but thankfully I was at a Title 1 school & never had the chance.

Anonymous wrote:As a DC employee I cannot accept a gift over $20.
I have returned gifts in the past.
You can buy a book for the room, class pizza party (next year), help me laminate things ect. But I won’t accept your gifts. It’s not appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some teachers need the money.

Sure and so do some parents, not sure why we have to go through this every year. This year it seems inappropriate, if you are teaching you are alive, well, and getting a pay check and hundreds are not! If an individual wants to send an under $20 giftcard then they can go ahead but as most teachers seem to be saying they are nothing elaborate or donate to those in need. No shade!