Something odd at my school

I know the economy is bad... But my school is crossing the line. They are making you pay for napkins, spoons, forks, and straws. LIke i know schools are having to cut down on things but i think this is just ridoculos!!!! It is 5 Cents a Napkin!!! 10 cents for Forks, spoons, and straws!!! I just want your all input on this. like i don't think its right to charge for a little napkin. lol
God Bless
Fuzzy

whoa our school aint that cheap yet......thats kinda sad when the school needs 5 cents from kids for the things they basically need

Yeah, there are schools in my area that are asking parents to buy tissue, toilette paper, etc. and have their child bring it in to school.

I had to do that in the past when I was in school Kenni.

You should start bringing your own forks and stuff lol.

Makes you wonder. What happened to the day when schools were nearly free? And its not like the quality of schools has been getting any better...

yea haha. they ask you to bring in hand sanitazer and paper towels plus the $100+ dollars for supplies

{PZG}Gen.Hannover wrote: And its not like the quality of schools has been getting any better...

I have a friend who is a retired teacher. 40+ years into it. He says we continue to dump money into it and nothing is really improving. When he started there were a handful of teachers and many students. now they have 3-4 times the teachers, and aides, and assistants, and half the students. obviously throwing more and more money into it is not helping.

The schools here in Williamsville, NY gave us a list of school supplies for our little ones to have when they start. It cost us $160.00 total to meet their "requirement" for each student.

i waste 50% of my time at school...because there is nothing being taught and most kids just dont care.

Just put a toll booth in the hallway...

That is just crazy. My school has us pay for extras like cookies, chips, Propel, and stuff like that and the ration out the Ranch, but that's it.

Thats not right ... you need that stuff to eat ...

Mmmmmm, cookies.

ya lol. they make us pay for extras like that and items to eat.

Yeah that is pretty tough guys. I think the biggest problem that the entire nation's educational system is facing concerning funding is the fact that no particular state, city or county school system can comfortably sustain the pensions that are going out to the retired teachers and educators. It is putting a tremendous load on the budget per state and local school systems each year and clearly there is not a good program in place or in the making that will rectify the problem. So, therefore, it will probably get worse before it gets better. It is a great time for ALL students NOT to take "getting your education" for granted. If something is not done it is however very clear that the quality of teaching will greatly diminish and leave the nation in a very very dim spot.

If I get started i wont be able to stop on this subject. I wont get into it but Pun is right it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

buy a box of plastic spoons and forks and roll of paper towel and give them out at lunch to everyone you see needing that to eat there lunch with see if anyone mines

The teachers at my school always complain about low budget but then look at their house ,cars, fancy clothing,and everything they buy its all huge fancy stuff.They say they need money but they make more money than almost everyone else. they have these things and they still want more?.......the teachers here complain but what they dont realize is that other teachers in other schools have way worse our school is weird

From a teachers perspective, what do you want? The teachers to buy all those things?

no i think you have to much to worry about now how far a teacher s salery go now teacher are not rich here ither from what i see on the tv its a hard life to teach you take your own life in your hand today teaching it cost a lot to do what you do 10 month out of a year . here in Canada the child gos to school with$ 20 dollars the first of the year and that takes care of the extra things he or she needs in the class room they still buy all there own books and papers pens and things teacher work long hours its a hard thing to do but one that you must love to i applaud you .

It is a sad situation. And Kenni you are right. We can't expect teachers to be footing the bill for such things, although it is happening all across the country. My sister has taught elementary aged students for close to 30 years. She spends alot of her own money on supplies.

I think a big problem with our school systems is the huge bureaucracy they have become. Having to cover the costs of the high number of non-teaching employees, like administration types, divert money from the actual education part of school. They take away the teacher's ability to pattern their curriculum for their particular group of students. It has made our schools somewhat backwards in terms of technology and unable to be flexible to meet the demands of today's world. I think in some states there are as many or more admin/office workers as there are teachers. How messed up is that? It would be like having a business that manufactures a product and having one person doing all the grunt work while you have 6 people in the office at a higher wage overseeing his or her work. How long is that profitable?

It amazes me how private schools can function with a fraction of the number of administrators and in some cases dealing with a bigger number of students. I think it is a reflection on government in general. They can't seem to do anything on a streamlined scale. I read something not too long ago that said in DC they spend close to $13,000 per student per year. They also have a voucher program that was $7,500 per student for parents to use on private education. They found the kids were getting a better eduction from the private schools.

And don't get me wrong, I love sports and I loved being a part of sports growing up as a kid, but I take my town for example and see what is spent on sports, the facilities, transportation and just the amount of emphasis that is put on it and it makes me wonder if we have our values a little skewed. I have seen some of the school books that my Dad learned from in the 40's and I compare that to what my son learned from before he graduated a couple of years ago and there is no comparison. I am not saying we are turning out a bunch of dummies but the level of difficulty of the books my Dad had to learn from were levels above todays textbooks.

I am not sure if it is necessary to be able to list all the presidents in order of when they were in office but having some knowledge of our country's history I think is essential. I use this case because of the stuff I see on Youtube or Jay Leno when he does his "on the street" interviews and questions a variety of people on different subjects. It is sad how some of these, and some are college educated, can't answer a simple question regarding past or present history. And questions that actually affect a person's day to day life and future. They have no clue. I would be curious how students compare today with their comprehension of the english language and how to use it properly.

I don't have all the answers either, but it can't continue on the path it is going. For what we spend as a country on education, we should be getting a better return on our money. We are losing our advantage in the world by not educating our kids to the level they should be. And I can't blame it all on our schools because parents have a huge role in preparing their children also. To sit back and let your kid slide through isn't right either. I know I have been guilty in the past myself with certain aspects of raising my son by sometimes putting priority on things that bring instant gratification instead of steering him towards something that would be more valuable for his future.

One last thing and then I will get off my high horse and soapbox. I am wondering how necessary the Dept of Ed is? Would we be better off by allowing individual states or heck even local school boards to have more control and say over what our kids are being taught?

{MsM}.OldMan wrote:I think a big problem with our school systems is the huge bureaucracy they have become.

You have a good understanding of the situation in most States. There is a tremendous waist of money in the public school system. A lot of it on those who don't even see the students. They sit up in their offices and make laws and rules and have no clue as to the reality of implementing of what they say they want done. Like politicians they are spinning to justify keeping their highly paid positions when, IMO, we could do without them. But another big problem are the unions both local and national. Unions protect their members some of which should be fired. They have tenure and are probably the highest paid teachers but they are not teaching. They are barely baby sitting. Michele Rhea the recent superintendent of the DC school system stood up to the union and fired a number of teachers who were not teaching at the least and molesting students at the worst. The union, some politicians, and the media were in an uproar. How dare she go against the union. Well, the newly elected mayor ran on how he would take care of Michele Rhea. The union supported him as a candidate. He won and Rhea resigned before being fired. DC will probably go back to the sad state it was in - wasting money and graduating students who can't read write or do arithmetic. Our esteemed president, who supports public education, of course sends his children to a upscale private school. He is against vouchers in DC and all over the country primarily because he is in bed with the NEA. The hypocrisy of what is good for his family is not good for others is appalling. And he is rarely called out on it.

And don't get me wrong, I love sports and I loved being a part of sports growing up as a kid, but I take my town for example and see what is spent on sports, the facilities, transportation and just the amount of emphasis that is put on it and it makes me wonder if we have our values a little skewed. I have seen some of the school books that my Dad learned from in the 40's and I compare that to what my son learned from before he graduated a couple of years ago and there is no comparison. I am not saying we are turning out a bunch of dummies but the level of difficulty of the books my Dad had to learn from were levels above todays textbooks.

Our values are skewed. Being politely correct is more important than being correct or giving a well rounded education. Once again the politicians supported by the unions are trying to brain wash children into their way of thinking. They do this by excluding history from text books and adding a history that suits their agenda. Don't get me started on math. If the students didn't have a calculator they couldn't add two plus two. Doing any type of mathematical calculation in their head or writing the steps out is almost unheard of.

Then there are all the accommodations that are given to students. They get extra time or they get to have a test read to them or the teachers notes, oh my, there is a long list of accommodations that if they can get a "professional" to sign off that they need it they get it. The problem is how are they going to function in the real world? Where is the problem solving that we all had to do when we were in school? As teachers we have deadlines for different things. We get threatened all the time that if we don't turn our grades in by a certain time that we may have a reprimand put in our permanent file. I am tempted to turn my grades in late with a note from a doctor stating that I need extended time to do such work that involves calculations and evaluation. Would they accept it? Probably not but that is my point how are we preparing students for the real world. A lot of my students come back and say College is so hard. Well duh! They aren't going to baby you or hold your hand or let you take a test over. It's ridiculous.

Then there is the problem of discipline. Every student is allowed a public education. So, they can bring a weapon to school, sell drugs, threaten other students, beat a teacher up and they can stay in school. All they do is move them to another school. The race of a student can determine what they can get away with and what they can't get away with. My school district does not want a high percentage of minorities to be suspended. So, no matter what they do they aren't disciplined. The whole purpose is so at the end of the year they can show that there was a statistical balance in suspensions and detentions. Do they care that they are teaching these teenagers that based on their race they can get away with things that others can't? No, they are only interested in keeping their jobs. It is despicable.

Having taught in Christian and private schools as well as public I can say private schools have their own set of problems but they do not have to answer to the bureaucracy as you put it. They can get good, honest text books. They can enforce discipline and they can fire a teacher who is not doing his job. At least now they can, our government is trying so hard to inject itself in private business that who knows what the future holds.

One last thing and then I will get off my high horse and soapbox. I am wondering how necessary the Dept of Ed is? Would we be better off by allowing individual states or heck even local school boards to have more control and say over what our kids are being taught?

I think this would be an excellent start. Make education local. Let the parents in those cities decide how they want their children educated. But of course our federal government is so afraid of free thinkers that they will never allow it. At least the current administration and Congress wouldn't. Get out and vote!!!!!!!

yay politics. Sad how skewd and selfishly perverted it is. But so this has been for thousands of years.

And also has been in my heart. sin. lets pray for our nation. Come Lord Jesus.