Let's vent together

Shannon -
My uniform was a navy skirt, a white, a blue, or a blue-white striped blouse, and either a black sweatshirt, a blue v-neck sweater, or a green sweater.

Oh and kneesocks. But they could be any color we wanted (and I went wild and bought monkey and frog ones with my allowance)

wow! that is some list! I have a gr.1 and gr.3 this year and all we have to do is pay 'school fees' at the beginning of the year ($110 total this year, but it goes up every year I think )

Wow!!!!I have 2 school list too but together they are your first list, thats too much!! two calculators? realy?

2 #2 Pencils (24 pack)
1 Box Expo Dry Erase Markers (4 pack)
1 Box of Colored Pencils (24 count) or
1 Box of Crayons (24 count) (NO BIGGER!)
7 – 2 Pockets Folders with Fasteners – plain, NO design – (2 blue and 1 each of red, yellow, orange,
green and purple – plastic folders are
recommended, but not required)
2 Red Pens
2 Highlighters
1 Composition Notebook
1 Sketch Pad (for Art Class)
2 Spiral Notebooks – plain
8 Pack of Markers
$2.00 for Holiday Project Supplies
1 Scissors
1 Roll Paper Towels (girls A – L)
1 Package of Wet Wipes (girls M – Z)
1 Box “Quart” Size Plastic Bags (boys A – L)
1 Box “Sandwich/Snack” Size Plastic Bags (boys M – Z)
1 Bottle of Hand Sanitizer (girls)
1 Box of Tissues/Kleenex (boys)
PLEASE DO NOT LABEL SUPPLIES

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This is my son's list for third grade, they get more extensive the older they get.

The part that totally ticks me off is the last line. They put it all together and divi as they see fit. Then they hold over what is left to use for the next year for students who need them. Then throughout the year, I replace most of this plus more because he doesn't control his own supplies. I am with Metina on the donate part. I work with back to school kick offs that provide theses supplies, I don't have to provide them out of my pocket, nor do I think the teachers should either.

I don't buy the extras on the list like expo markers and tissues for the beginning of the year. If I find them cheap enough with coupons as the year goes on then I will pick them up. I have been homeroom mom since my son started school, I do field trips, field days, parties, fundraisers....isn't that enough... I also have to buy classroom supplies?? There will be more request for fundraising purchases, and classroom gift exchanges, class projects, teacher gifts... Plus on top of all of that we still pay school fees....50$ I think, and my property taxes from levies is like 1200 a year for my 52,000 dollar home. Which by the way lost 20,000 in value in the last 2 years from 72,000 but they wouldn't lower my property taxes........Oh sorry ladies, that was a really long vent.

Label them anyway...... oooops!

I am considering it. Seriously

I would be choked if I had to fill that. Me being me, I'd send my imaginary child to school with only what they required... forget suppying the class in general!

My cousin is a teacher and she spends a lot of her own money on things for her classroom.

It sucks.

My kids school has edupacks for the younger grades $40 payable first day and long lists like yours for the older grade. I think on average it is about $40-$60 per kid though. But I just go to staples during the "most wonderful time of the year" sale and get it over and done with with the help of a sale assosciate.... I can never find the specific things they ask for and I just start biying whatever is on sale... I dont like the specifics of white eraser versus a pink one etc... as long as it erases...if they want something specific by all means go buy it yourself is my opinion! Good luck with your shopping!!

Yikes! Homeschool means you need it all:-)

Is a Satrbucks gift card on the list

I feel ya... the big ole long list, plus $120 in book rental fees per kid, plus school pictures are next week, and this year the township cut busing, so you pay over $400 for private busing company or fight the thousands of parents trying to get their kids to and from school (and good old fashioned walking to school is not an option because there are no sidewalks). Sheesh.

isnt education supposed to be top priority? isnt this how we get smarter folk into our jobs and communities for the future? where did all the funding go?
now I understand the hot issues arising... it all start with what we can flipping afford ourselves

Book rental fees?? What kind of BS is that?

Oh we had book rental fees back in the 60s and 70s too. Well... more of a refundable deposit.

Yep... I hear of magical lands where the state also pays for textbooks, but not here. We sooo need to move.

This is a yearly thing too.... its such a bummer for those of us that can't even afford the basics. I understand all of your beef, I used to feel the same way, until we were part of a very poor neighborhood. Our school had to use a "district-wide" school supply list until this year, so most of the things that were on the lists our particular school didn't even use. SOOOO FRUSTRATING!!! Over the years I have learned to just buy the things that were on special if I could afford them, only send my children's part, and saved the rest. I would then tell the teacher that if during the year they really needed something like pencils etc, just to let me know and I would help them out, but that I can't pay for everything that was requested along with all the stupid things that they request or send home at the beginning of the as well as clothes, backpacks, food, etc. They have been actually thankful that they didn't have to store more supplies that just take up space in their classrooms.

As for the plain issue, at least in our schools, it has to do with the whole thing of I'm better than you cuz I can get the best stuff, and you have holes in your shoes, or clothes, or you have the crappiest stuff, so you suck. It's the same philosophy as the school uniforms.

I was curious what grades these lists were for?

My aunt was a teacher, and ended up spending alot of her own money for things in her classes. (I would try to help her when I could) A few years before she got to sick to teach I would go to her class and help out and ended up spending my own money to help out her and her department, as she was the head of the English department for the whole school, as well as the drama, and speech and debate teams. So I know how hard that is on the teachers.

Alot of the school lists are just BS to get what they can out of the parents.

Our schools took out art and we only have gym and music class once maybe twice a week. The district cut a ton of teachers, made alot of them take early retirement, or just flat out told them to go to another district. My sons school cut all but one paraprofessional, and we no longer have a counselor. There is a principal, no vice, counselors, or anything. There is 1 teacher per grade, even though we definitely need more than 1 in some grades. We have to share a nurse with 5 other schools. We are considered a Title I school, and because more than 80% of our school is considered poor, we have a school-wide free breakfast & lunch, THANK GOD!!

The thing that chaps my hid, is that the district administrators will give themselves raises, and then in the exact same breath cut teachers, programs, and in one case a whole school. Talk about hypocritical *&#E$%!@^%#$.... Its ridiculous!!! The government is more concerned with their own butts, retirements, etc, than they are our future, which are our children.

While I probably have it better than some of you, things in our educational systems are pretty crappy. And I know our state has been religiously making cuts, and will probably keep making them.

So good luck to all of you, may you all be blessed with lots of well paying gigs, and may you all have a very prosperous year to come!! I know thats what I am hoping for!! Sorry its so long, its quite a bitter topic for me.

Wow, what district are they in that is ridiculous. A majority of my kids supplies are covered with tuition, thankfully!

I get a bit anal with my school supply shopping. I create a spreadsheet of all the supplies for all 4 kids then I scour the sales papers and see who has what on sale and I shop. I'm able to get all supplies for 4 kids for about $75 bucks. Also we save stuff from the previous year as well.

I'm so happy that this year they are wearing uniforms, that really saves us a bunch of money.

The grades are 8th and 5th.

Cabby they go to Hales Corners schools...

That is just the school supply list, that doesn't even include the school fee's...$75 per kid + $20 gym outfit

GEEZ!!! That's ridiculous!!! I was thinking about the calculator, you can try to go to a second hand store... ebay, etc.... maybe look around at a local college, they might have used ones that they are trying to get extra money for.

The brand name crap is stupid! They have no right asking for a particular brand... I would probably purposely get the cheapest bags, etc... lol... and tell them to deal with it... LOL... Stupid... Like I tell my kids... "Take what you get and don't throw a fit!!!" You want something brand particular, then get it yourself!!!! I mean really!!! Come to think of it, I think they have particular brands on my kids supply list, tough cookies!! But I already gave them my shpill on asking during the year if they need the basics... I would rather spread it out .... and really what are they going to do if you don't send the entire list... its not like they make a checklist to see if each kid brought what was on the lists... that would take too much time out of their day!

I hope its going better Suzy!!

WALMART!!!!!!!!! most stuff were under $1 and a 4 gb thumbdrive was only $5!!!!!!!!!!

even though i have no kids i was sorely tempted to buy stuff just because

it's expensive..and I know our school just doesn't have that much money to get materials..they raise money during special activities to buy extra supplies..

I must say i've said a couple of times..do we need to supply the school with everything?..glue, scissors..it's crazy..

I used to teach elementary art and retired as soon as I could. We would have kids coming in all year long, new, transferred, and teachers would find supplies for them somehow. They do a lot of back to school donations here in Florida too. Its true they can't require you to buy everything. Hardships are widespread. Every child is entitled to free education, and even the uniforms were suggested. They couldn't enforce it, but there are places where they recycle used uniforms for others.
Even kids who had everything the first week, sometimes had lost, broken, misplaced materials, so teachers had leftovers for them to borrow.
My grandkids are all homeschooled, so they use whatever they want.
We also have a Resource Depot where teachers have access to donated materials to use in their classroom. As an art teacher, I went there often for "stuff" that we used in class.
Good luck, I think a lot of the list is a wish list.

I am reading this and thinking I got off easy. Kids are going into 7th and 8th grade respectively and they each have about 10 things on the list. the givens of course..........paper, binder, subject notebooks, pencil, pens, highlighters, case, folders, book covers and maybe 1 or 2 more things but that's it.

Our VBS program that incidently starts next week usually covers all of that for the kids anyway, plus there are so many bookbag/backpack giveaways done by local businesses and companies sheesh........ Angel ended up with 4 back packs full of stuff last year. I let her keep 1 because she likes to play school sometimes and we gave the other 3 to some kids we knew could benefit from it.

I've said it before and I will say it again. When I get those lists, I don't buy the gallons of bleach and clorox wipes and kleenex and stuff. I am not paying to clean the school. That's what my tax dollars are for. What are they gonna do, say my kid can't go to school if I don't bring them supplies to clean the building? I DARE them!

Hey Face-Paint Lady---Like this attitude!! You go girl!