Re: Sneaky School Districts
TelecomFreq
8/2/2011 8:06:32 PM
Prof, as a parent with a on a year away from entering school, I personally do not mind the higher taxes in my area since we have one of the best school systems in our state. That being said I would be very upset if I were paying this same level of taxes in a subpar school system. A year ago I went with my cousin to a parents night at his daughters school where we could talk to the teachers and ask them questions. For context his daughter was in 8th grade at the time. Being an engineer I focused in on the math and science teachers. I found that the math teacher had a good head on her shoulders. The science teacher on the other hand was a massive disappointment for me. He lacked what I would consider to be fundamentals of science, when I called him out on it he actually told me that he doesn't have any problems teaching those concepts because they are described in detail in the class material and he can just go by that. Needless to say I was not happy at all. I later found out that my cousin pays about the same rate in taxes that I do, and the schools in his community are on the verge of being taken over by the county, but that's not all that surprising after my talk with that teacher!
Re: Sneaky School Districts
ProfR
8/2/2011 2:46:04 PM
Amazing. At the same time, property taxes keep going up to raise money for the schools - so what is that money for if the parents are paying for all the supplies?
My kids are grown, (a fine fiscal move!) but I was pitching in to help my niece do school shopping for her two young sons last September and got an introduction to the latest sneaky list tactic.
I noticed that her boys' lists were FULL of things like wet wipes, tissues, paper towels, cleaning supplies, chalk, push pins, etc.--lots of which weren't even age appropriate for the kindergartner and 2nd grader we were shopping for. When we came to the required six rolls of toilet paper each, I got intensely suspicious and finally demanded to know WHAT was up!
My niece explained that the teachers in her impoverished district made the kids each bring in supplies for the school, which were then surrendered on Day 1, pooled and used by the teachers (or even the custodians) throughout the year to run the school.
How do YOU spell U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E??? Guess we should have been grateful that we weren't asked to provide Starbucks and donuts for the faculty room!
#Drivewaygirl,
You may be surprised at the amount of peer pressure to comply on this. How will your little one feel when everyone else has the full set of supplies and he or she doesn't?
My worst experience was a list that included 24 colored pencils - with clear instructions that the parents were to make sure EACH pencil was marked with the grade, class and childs name. As most of these colored pencils seem to be lost or stolen in the first month of school, I can see the logic of this request. But it took me FOREVER to write all that on 24 colored pencils.
Re: Time to change?
Tenacious
8/2/2011 12:28:51 PM
No. And they will encrypt it so you'll never be able to try, even when they're sleeping. And I'm talking about the ones in elementary school.
Re: Time to change?
tokyogai
8/2/2011 12:28:09 PM
Probably not. They are very possesive.
I don't have kids yet, but I remember those dreaded lists. They were just as specific as you said, Noreen. And for what reason? We never used 80% of the stuff we bought. I swear that when I do have kids that this is going to be my plan. i'm getting those giant Ziploc bags and tossing every school type supply I find all year in it, including the free things I get at hotels and conventions. I'm going to tear off the labels of the promotional folders I get all the time at conferences and reuse them. I'm going to keep the crayons they give out to keep you from whining at Applebees. Then I'm going to parcel it out to my kids. i don't care what they are supposed to have. that's what they're getting.
And if anyone dares to call me a bad parent, I'll just call myself Green.
Re: Time to change?
Phoenix
8/2/2011 12:09:54 PM
You are right it is difficult to determine the quality of a product just by looking at it online. But I do see the advantages of online shopping. It is a hassle to go out looking for things in crowded stores specially at the last minute. So if we are to make the best use of our smart phones and social networking options we may have to start early. You will have to however spend some time online to find the best options. As you say time is money so we will have to decide which is the nest option occording to your own needs.
Kids are so clever. Think they'd let us use it if we did get them one?
Tried that. It works to some extent, and you can even use the coupon codes and such that you find online, BUT...at least around here the lists always include esoteric private label/organic/my cousin is an entrepreneur brands that require you to go to specific stores. In addition, if you're a veteran back to school shopper, you know heavy duty folders and notebooks with extra thick covers are actually more cost effective than the cheap alternatives because they last longer. For the life of me, I can't determine from the product descriptions online which 2-pocket folders are actually made of plastic (which I want) and which are just plastic coated cardboard, which I do not want. So it's only a partial solution.
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