That dreaded time is here again. Back to school shopping. With the endless freakin' supply lists and the new clothes...
When the HELL did my 8 year old transition to size THREE shoes?!
And the mommy pulling her hair out because she had to buy 40 damned glue sticks!! Yes you read that right FORTY!!!
Add in the ridiculous amount of pencils and markers... and crayons... -- do kids seriously use THAT many in a school year?!
Is my son REALLY going to use all 30 of his glue sticks and is it seriously necessary to get them ALL in August?!
Now see... I was smart this year and shopped the week after it all was put out. I didn't wait until tax free weekend. I got all the colored pencils and crayons and markers my kids needed and didn't need to go "ARE WE SERIOUSLY OUT OF MARKERS?!" ... 'cause yes, yes they were. and sets of watercolor paints with 8 colors, not ten or 16... 8. we were LUCKY to stumble upon the 8 set among the chaos of those three aisles.
And I do understand that the teachers aren't paid NEARLY enough to get supplies for their rooms. so through the year I'll buy things like sanitizer and tissues and send them in with a kid just randomly.
But I draw the damned line at getting items which will be SHARED by all the damned kids. Uh, no. I buy supplies with my meager paychecks and meager child support -- which ought to be raised in August just so that good for nothing bastard could be forced to help pay for the supplies and clothes but nooooooooo--.... I digress.
I buy MY children the supplies THEY will need. And I get times are tough. But if I can buy my kids the supplies I know they'll need. So can the mom who pays a mortgage on her 300K home with her Iphone and 2016 model car, kids in designer clothes because they're in this specific school district.... My kid's school district is known as the "rich school" ... or it was until the district started open enrollment, which meant the poor families living in rent controlled apartments in the slums of the city we're a township in the suburb of could enroll their kids in our district, but they wouldn't get picked up by the busses.
Truthfully, I'm all for it. Let those kids get a better education by getting into the better school. BUT.
When the parents who DO live in the district get their silk lined panties in a twist because the school needs more money, because they have a lot of welfare kids getting free lunches in the school and need to raise taxes by a marginal percent for a school levy, that's where I have issues. Those silver spoon wielding asshats suddenly don't give two shits about the schools their kids are going to. NO they won't shell out $50 more dollars a YEAR (that's what it would have amounted to this past March) so the schools can fix the shit that's getting broken or install AIR CONDITIONING so the kids don't have heat stroke in June and August - September when they're in school because of the global warming these dumbasses say is all made up and hokum.
And then we all end up with these ridiculous supply lists and get to read this....
Screen shot of the online supply list for my 6th grader.... Please note the ridiculous 7 items that will be in home room and SHARED?! Uhh no. If I'm buying stuff for my kid. It's staying with my kid. Also... please note, the TWO packs of colored pencils they all are required to bring in. One to share, one for personal use.
All three of my kids needed dry erase markers. .... Only ONE of them has their own little dry erase board to use at their desk. So guess who they're for?! Yup. the fuckin' teachers. My kids have TOLD me.... "We don't keep them at our desks, they go to the teachers and she uses them." ..... You mean to tell me that damned teacher can't afford $7 for TWO packages of five dry erase markers that SHOULD last her the entire school year?! Wanna know how I know?
My teacher used three dry erase markers -- a green, a red, and a black -- for an entire 12 month period writing notes on the board drawing models, playing memory games on our white board. for 104 class days.
I can hear you now.. "Well our kids are in school 180 days! for 6 hours!" ... yeah, but let's do the math here... THREE markers lasted through 104 classes, let's say at 3 hours for that ONE class. that's 312 hours. breaking it back down... 104 hours per marker.
TEN dry erase markers. at 180 school days, at 5 hours. (I say at five, my kids are in school 6 hours. and that is PUSHING it because of a close to an hour lunch, hour long specials where the kids aren't even IN her classroom.... you get the gist.) 180 X 5? 900 hours. that's 90 hours per marker. You see the logic here? BUT the classrooms have 24 kids in it, each kid could bring a back of anywhere from 4 - 8 markers. let's go median and say 6 markers per kid for this teacher -- that's 144 damned markers!!
You're telling me that shit doesn't add up, and she shouldn't have EXTRAS by now? She should have a shit ton of those fuckers built up in a huge ass storage tote somewhere.
That is 144 dry erase markers EVERY year! Considering the average length of a teaching career is.... -- well the NEA says 46% quit after 5 years... but in my district there hasn't been a new opening for teachers in 10 years... I'm going with MY knowledge of this district. -- about 10 years.... that's over a THOUSAND dry erase markers these bitches should have saved up!
They may need 8 markers a year.... which after 5 years they could put... Boys or girls only bring in the markers... not EVERY damned student. and that's IF.... IF she uses those markers for 5 hours STRAIGHT EVERY school day!
But not in my district, oh no, because we have SCHEDULED two hour early releases and delays for "Additional training for the teachers...." ..... mm-hmm. okay. And honestly I HIGHLY doubt my kids go to school for 180 days. NOR are they in school for 1170 hours (For the mid level students 3rd-5th).
** Cue Jeopardy music whilst I work out the math by looking at the school calendar for the year**
Okay. Added all up, 175 scheduled days -- they DON'T have their inservice days and the delays/early releases scheduled yet. That's 1050 hours. NOT including the scheduled different days, field trips, special events that take them out of the classroom.
Given the levys that HAVE passed in the past they all have the smart boards... which they COULD utilize, but don't. Instead... they'll just hit up the parents for Dry erase markers, index cards, clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, tissues, ziplock baggies.
I understand the teachers not supplying the students with notebooks, pencils, crayons etc.... but teacher specific items should be a HUGE no no to insist on having the parents buy.
Now, I've read blogs, and comments from teachers which state that it's optional, you don't have to get them. THEN PUT IT IN AN "Optional/classroom donations" SECTION!!!! DO NOT put it at the TOP of the list, or stick it in on the bottom of the supply list that makes it seem as if it IS required.
Just for my three kids.... the teachers all want 6 boxes of tissues, 4 TUBS Clorox wipes, 2 packs Ziplock bags, 16 dry erase markers, a package of card stock ---- SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!??!?!!?!!!!!, and finally 4 packs of 3X5 index cards. And I'm well aware... those are for THEM. not the kids. NOT OKAY!
and once again refer to the above screen shot supply list for my 6th grader. Supplies for the WHOLE classroom, Not specifically for my kid. This is utter bullshit.
I have not and will not buy the teacher/classroom shit until (if and when) a note is sent home with my student asking for donations.
I did participate in the donation last year of pencils. My kids's classrooms needed pencils. I got two packs of twenty #2 pencils for the teachers for two classrooms. Not a big deal, yanno? I have bought Clorox wipes, tissue boxes things like that and randomly sent them in. I will do that again this year. but these supply lists are the BANE of my existence.
and I didn't even get to the new clothes for the school year!! Thank the Gods for the Mr's momma, because that woman spent over $600 to get my kiddos new clothes for the year. New jeans, new shirts. SIZE FREAKIN THREE SHOES!!!! two pairs of them for Tiger.
Still two weeks til school actually starts... can it be now? Please.... can it be now?
