tct-current

Life In The Middle

What's On Your Child's School Supply List

By the beginning of August the stores started displaying their numerous products related to the upcoming school year. These serve as a reminder that soon you’ll be sending your kids off to school and its time to buy school related items at these stores. I read an article in the local paper that said there is a lot more to this assignment than there was when Grandma got her kids ready for school.

Back in the ANCIENT days the school provided the paper, pencils, paint, and craft items. About the only thing a boy or girl in grade school provided was a box of crayons, and maybe a craft apron. Forget those days folks. Not only is the cost to educate a child in America one of the most expensive, but what is supplied by the local school system has declined.

Did you know that you can expect your child’s school list to include toilette paper, cleaning supplies, tissues, sanitizers, and paper towels. By the way, could you include some office supplies for us? These requests are in addition to your child’s own paper, pencils, and glue. That’s right, now when you go to Target, or an office supply store, the store is mixing in with school supplies both office and cleaning supplies.

If I were sending my child to a small private school, I may understand a request for office supplies and cleaning items. It is difficult to accept these requests from school systems that have budgets which are growing each year. The school district has a department that is suppose to supply each school with these things, so what are they doing? The issue here is a school district is suppose to purchase these things in bulk and at wholesale prices. How expensive is it when parents are expected to independently buy these things at retail prices? Then someone must keep track of what students provide versus what each school needs from the district.

The unfortunate thing is that while the school budget for the taxpayer increases, the quality of the education we are receiving is decreasing. Good teachers aren’t rewarded, bad teachers can’t be fired, because of a union that has a stranglehold on the school system. Classroom size is increasing. There are less school days, more social awareness programs, early morning and after school programs to be paid for, yet In the end all we get is a mediocre system. Hopefully this will be improved in the future.

You as a parent should expect to put in time to help each of your children succeed. You are responsible for providing your children with an environment where they are nurtured. You should encourage them and support them and their educational efforts. You should not have to worry about whether the school will have toilette paper, office supplies or cleaning items. Just something to think about. Until next time...Colleen

YOUR OPINION - Let us know if you liked this article, and whether you agree or disagree with it. Provide your comments here.

Click here to return to the top.