School Supplies

[AIT]

My daughter starts kindergarten this year. For the first time, I'm looking at the gigantic list of supplies we're supposed to send with her. Anybody have any suggestions on where the cheapest place is to get all this stuff? Any suggestions on what to buy or not buy?

 

[tigershoops31]

My daughter starts kindergarten this year. For the first time, I'm looking at the gigantic list of supplies we're supposed to send with her. Anybody have any suggestions on where the cheapest place is to get all this stuff? Any suggestions on what to buy or not buy?

Won't help you this year, but you can keep the lists of school supplies for future years of all grades...most of the time these don't change much from year to year. Staples and places like that will often have crazy back to school sales earlier in the summer, so you can get much of what you need very cheap then and fill in with the rest when the official list comes out. Other than that check adds for k-mart, wal-mart, target and compare prices...good luck!

 

[clonedude]

My daughter starts kindergarten this year. For the first time, I'm looking at the gigantic list of supplies we're supposed to send with her. Anybody have any suggestions on where the cheapest place is to get all this stuff? Any suggestions on what to buy or not buy?

These supply lists have gotten WAY out of hand IMO. On my 4th grade daughter's list this year was 2 boxes of dry erase markers and 2 packages of post-it note pads. Kids never use these things in elementary school. These are teacher supplies... not student supplies.

And of course... I can't wait for the school fundraisers that my kids will be bringing home once a month to sell candy and magazines for the school. My property taxes already went up again this year, so I don't think I'll be sending any of these fundraisers back. They got enough of my money.

 

[richey24]

These supply lists have gotten WAY out of hand IMO. On my 4th grade daughter's list this year was 2 boxes of dry erase markers and 2 packages of post-it note pads. Kids never use these things in elementary school. These are teacher supplies... not student supplies.

And of course... I can't wait for the school fundraisers that my kids will be bringing home once a month to sell candy and magazines for the school. My property taxes already went up again this year, so I don't think I'll be sending any of these fundraisers back. They got enough of my money.

That's the spirit! I know when my son's teacher asks for help for supplies to teach my son I'll tell her where she can stick it! Either that or I'll help out since she's the one teaching my son, I haven't decided yet.

 

[clonedude]

That's the spirit! I know when my son's teacher asks for help for supplies to teach my son I'll tell her where she can stick it! Either that or I'll help out since she's the one teaching my son, I haven't decided yet.

Teachers should be provided these things from the school. If the teacher has a problem with their supplies, they should complain to the principal.

And why do my kids have to run around the neighborhood on a monthly basis and be door-to-door salesmen to raise money for the school?

 

[IcSyU]

Teachers should be provided these things from the school. If the teacher has a problem with their supplies, they should complain to the principal.

And why do my kids have to run around the neighborhood on a monthly basis and be door-to-door salesmen to raise money for the school?

No one is forcing them to do it. I sold crap for school from 5th to my senior year of high school because I went to a private school. No one forced me to sell anything.

 

[richey24]

Hopefully there's a way to track who the cheap parents are that won't help out the teachers or the school so their kids can get a lesser education, seems only fair. It'd be hard since some legitimately can't afford it, but for those that can and choose not to there should be some kind of consequence.

 

[isucyfan]

These supply lists have gotten WAY out of hand IMO. On my 4th grade daughter's list this year was 2 boxes of dry erase markers and 2 packages of post-it note pads. Kids never use these things in elementary school. These are teacher supplies... not student supplies.

And of course... I can't wait for the school fundraisers that my kids will be bringing home once a month to sell candy and magazines for the school. My property taxes already went up again this year, so I don't think I'll be sending any of these fundraisers back. They got enough of my money.

Teachers generally buy a lot of this stuff out of their pocket. I'm happy to help them out. We're lucky that our school doesn't do magazine/candy fundraisers. They have one fundraiser a year, which is a school carnival, and we have no problem dropping $40 on that, since it saves the headache of selling crap.

We get the Sunday circulars and cross-check them with the school supply lists, and go to where the best deals are. We start early, and pick and choose the best places for the best deals. Here in the Twin Cities, we have a lot of options, but most places have Target, Walgreens, an office store, etc. to compare and choose.

 

[jumbopackage]

Hopefully there's a way to track who the cheap parents are that won't help out the teachers or the school so their kids can get a lesser education, seems only fair.

That's not the point.

The point is, if it costs x number of dollars to run a school, and the taxpayers are paying x number of dollars, the school should be operable without levying an additional tax on every student that walks in the door.

I don't have a problem paying taxes - especially ones I know about. I do have a problem paying hidden taxes for things that I should already be paying for.

 

[IcSyU]

That's not the point.

The point is, if it costs x number of dollars to run a school, and the taxpayers are paying x number of dollars, the school should be operable without levying an additional tax on every student that walks in the door.

I don't have a problem paying taxes - especially ones I know about. I do have a problem paying hidden taxes for things that I should already be paying for.

Then they need to raise taxes because there are a lot of schools running on a budget not large enough to be a suitable educational environment.

 

[TarHeelHawk]

Teachers should be provided these things from the school. If the teacher has a problem with their supplies, they should complain to the principal.

And why do my kids have to run around the neighborhood on a monthly basis and be door-to-door salesmen to raise money for the school?

In an ideal world, that would be the case. The reality is that teachers ended up having to pay for supplies (sometimes) out of their own pocket.

 

[tigershoops31]

Teachers should be provided these things from the school. If the teacher has a problem with their supplies, they should complain to the principal.

And why do my kids have to run around the neighborhood on a monthly basis and be door-to-door salesmen to raise money for the school?

I am a teacher and get a flat amount of money to buy school supplies each year that doesn't begin to cover it. The school decides what is put in the school supplies list for the kids each year and bottom line is that there are a lot of things that we need but we can't possibly buy with the amount we are given...

Also, there are kids every year that come without ANY school supplies and have a rough home life. I get extra supplies beforehand for these situations so that the student doesn't get singled out as not being able to afford school supplies. The amount of money that teachers spend out of pocket for things that they need but aren't provided for them is crazy. If you're able to get the supplies on the list at least this helps some, but I understand that not everybody can afford everything also.

As for the fundraisers, I hate them probably as much or more than you do. I think that a lot of times the school doesn't know when to say no to a good cause, but it always turns into a competition with the classes and they end up bringing in good money for good causes. I am kind of torn because I think that we do far too many of them, but on the other hand there are good causes that benefit and many students are taught a lot about generosity in the process. I had a student last year that caused a lot of problems early on in the year. Towards the end of the year we had a fundraiser for juvenile diabetes, and after hearing the talk about it he brought $100 of his birthday money in and donated it to the cause. After calling his parents and telling them we thought it was too much, they insisted that he really wanted to help out and had been excited to use his own money towards it. That to me made the hassle of all the fundraisers worth it...

 

[jumbopackage]

Then they need to raise taxes because there are a lot of schools running on a budget not large enough to be a suitable educational environment.

Well then they need to either cut their budget, or raise taxes.

Plain and simple. And if the taxpayers say no to taxes, there is only one other option.

 

[AIT]

These supply lists have gotten WAY out of hand IMO. On my 4th grade daughter's list this year was 2 boxes of dry erase markers and 2 packages of post-it note pads. Kids never use these things in elementary school. These are teacher supplies... not student supplies.

And of course... I can't wait for the school fundraisers that my kids will be bringing home once a month to sell candy and magazines for the school. My property taxes already went up again this year, so I don't think I'll be sending any of these fundraisers back. They got enough of my money.

I can't complain too much about my kid's school supplies. It looks like it's all stuff she'll use; there's just a lot of it. Although I wonder why I have to buy glue sticks instead of a glue bottle, and why I have to send a pair of scissors (the schools always provided safety scissors when I was in elementary).

I'm definitely not looking forward to the fundraising. My kid was in the public preschool last year, and she had class pictures taken twice, and came home with probably three or four fundraisers. I'd rather just send the school a check instead of dealing with fundraisers.

 

[richey24]

Well then they need to either cut their budget, or raise taxes.

Plain and simple. And if the taxpayers say no to taxes, there is only one other option.

So you'd rather pay more random taxes as opposed to giving money or supplies directly to your child's teacher?

 

[cycloner29]

I have a daughter starting high school and they need a graphing calculator. $109 at Walmart. Since when did high school need these pricey things? I know times have changed but didn't think math changed that much. Just the cost alone in extra cirricular activities is high $400+ alone to be on the drill or cheer squad. :skeptical:

 

[jumbopackage]

So you'd rather pay more random taxes as opposed to giving money or supplies directly to your child's teacher?

That's an oversimplification.

Being required to give money and supplies directly to the child's teacher is against Iowa law, first and foremost.

They aren't "random taxes". There are plenty of examples of taxes being raised for specific purposes, and property taxes tend to pay for most of the education system in general anyway.

Doing things like this also hides the true cost of an education from the taxpayers. It's akin to the franchise fees that Des Moines had been overcharging it's residents for for years.

I don't think most taxpayers would complain about a few grand extra total in taxes (a few dollars a piece, probably) if they knew exactly what they were going for. The issue is that the education system seems like a "black hole" that just gets money tossed at it with little or no accountability.

Hell, how much more efficient would it be if the whole Iowa school system could negotiate deals to provide essential school supplies instead of each individual student being forced to buy them at retail?

 

[Sparkplug]

I asked the school what percent of the money raised from a fundraiser do they get to keep and donate an amount based on that percent.

It was usually 50% or less, so if they expected each child to sell $20 worth of stuff I donated at least $10.

Many parents started doing this and they made the most money ever.

The fundraiser companies don't like it though.

 

[richey24]

Being required to give money and supplies directly to the child's teacher is against Iowa law, first and foremost.

Who ever said it was a requirement? It should be something you want to do to ensure that the teacher has the supplies he/she needs to teach your child.

I don't think most taxpayers would complain about a few grand extra total in taxes (a few dollars a piece, probably) if they knew exactly what they were going for.

So you are ok with the extra taxes because you think they'll go exactly where they're needed? You haven't been paying attention lately have you?

 

[richey24]

I have a daughter starting high school and they need a graphing calculator. $109 at Walmart. Since when did high school need these pricey things? I know times have changed but didn't think math changed that much. Just the cost alone in extra cirricular activities is high $400+ alone to be on the drill or cheer squad. :skeptical:

I used graphing calculators very frequently in the higher level math classes. Not to mention she'll most likely need it for college.