Back to School ads signal the start of an annual family shopping spree. Shopping expeditions begin in early August, as parents with kids in tow hit the stores to attack long lists of school supply ‘must haves,’ fall clothes, the latest sports gear and mobile electronic devices. It is the second biggest consumer spending season of the year, putting a strain on family budgets and causing hardship for parents struggling to make ends meet. Across North America, the cost of heading back to school is escalating, and parents are finding out the hard way.
The average Canadian family with school age children, according to a recent poll conducted by VISA, will spend $403.89 on back to school items ($240 of which spent online), between August 1 and Labour Day. Some 34 per cent of shoppers start in the first two weeks of August, but most families find themselves rushing around when back to school shopping amounts to a frenzy. http://blogs.todaysparent.com/saving/what-does-back-to-school-cost-you/
Many Canadian families in tight economic times are struggling with back to school costs. A recent post in Today’s Parent (August 3, 2011) entitled “What does back to school cost you?” touches rather lightly on the critical issue. The author “Sandra” describes shopping for her two school age daughters at Mountain Equipment Co-op only to discover that last year’s backpacks have gone out of style! For families like Sandra’s the rising costs are an irritant, but for thousands of Canadian parents finding the money for such expenses means running up credit cards or doing without.
Why are more and more families dreading the Back to School merry-go-round of shopping? The cost of going back to school is rising each year, and so are all costs for “school supplies” and “incidentals” being borne by families in public schools as well as independent and alternative schools. A Back to School CBC Radio News program (Information Morning, August 16, 2011) identified the issue squarely and demonstrated how it adds to the stresses of family life.
It’s a problem that originated in the 1980s, as school boards sought to download costs for school supplies on parents and compelled many teachers to supplement their classroom supply budgets. Successive waves of edu-cuts have imposed more costs on families. One of the major drivers is charging kids to compete in sports or play in the school band, now known as the “pay-to-participate” or “pay-to-play” model of funding a whole range of extra-curricular activities. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43856978/
Hard pressed families from Toronto to Calgary, from Youngstown, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado, and all over Ireland, are raising alarm bells about the soaring cost of school basics. In Youngstown, WKBN TV, ran a news story ( August 12, 2011) using Huntington Bank statistics claiming that from 2010 to 2011 costs went up $56 for elementary kids, $136 for middle school, and $91 for high school. (www.wkbn.com) The Calgary Board of Education was concerned enough to post a Survival Guide of Tips entitled “Worried about the Cost of Back-to-School?” In some cities, the neighbourhood Walmart store actually has school supplies lists posted that came from local Boards of Education.
Most of the Back to School costs media stories offer practical family budgeting tips, but studiously avoid addressing the larger education policy issue.
Why are Back to School costs rising so rapidly? Should public schools and boards of education be off-loading the costs for back-to-school basics? How can school systems professing to provide “education for all” be justified in imposing unreasonable costs on families in disadvantaged communities? To what extent are school systems forcing Food Banks into the school supplies business?
Charging extra fees to offset budget cuts is a long-standing education issue for parents. Nearly 30 years ago, a court in California heard this evidence: “Charging fees to students to offset budget cuts is not legal, just as it would not be legal to announce that in an effort to make ends meet, schools will no longer accept students of Filipino descent, or girls. Student fees deny opportunities to low-income students and put them at an academic disadvantage.” ( Edited for clarity)
The Supreme Court case referred to is Hartzell v. Connell (1984), in which taxpayers filed suit against the Santa Barbara High School district when it began requiring students to pay for extra-curriculars including band and drama. The court ruled that “Educational opportunities must be provided to all students without regard to their families’ ability or willingness to pay fees…This fundamental feature of public education is not contingent upon the inevitably fluctuating financial health of local school districts.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/school-districts-nationwide_n_867223.html
What can be said about public education systems ignoring court rulings? Typical practice among the educrats, and from my research typical in all corners of the world, when it comes to fees, expenses related to the start of the school year, and the soaring cost of school supplies.
Everything goes out the window when it comes to fees, supplies and other essentials that are downloaded unto the parents, rather than boards using economies of scale to extract the best possible price on school supplies… In turn, if a package of 3-ringed binder paper cost them 15 cents per package, the school can turn around and charge the students 39 cents per package. Staples does it every year when it comes to school supplies (used by)…the education system.
I did ask the question many moons ago, since I was peeved at the rule that all school supplies purchased by parents would become common property of the classroom. Hence, on the first week of school, my children handed in the bare minimum of what was required, the quality low, and the cheapest. The good stuff remained the personal property of my children.
What was the educrats’ responses to my question of economies of scale? Too much work, and it would require a space for a tuck shop, staffing it would mean time being spent away from educating the students, and more importantly the tuck shop would represent a form of profiteering. The preferred route by educrats is to download the expenses unto the parents, and spend much time on the creation of excuses, rather than the actual education of children.
Schools can take a dim view of enterprising students. One small example was the little business, my youngest had back in grade 5, charging 25 cents and up, on high-quality prints of colouring pages, puzzle pages and other such pages, that had free copyright attached to them. I thought to myself, there was no harm, and she was learning the ways of the market place concerning grade 5 and grade 6 students. She was providing a need, at a low cost and making enough to buy her own goodies that I refuse to buy. By grade 6, she added two more students to her business venture, that were excellent in math and organization skills, increasing the take, and to be split evenly among the 3 of them. The business expanded to all grades, and my printer was very busy on nights when there was big orders. Thankfully the ink was cheap, which was a small price to pay to see my youngest exploring the world of business and markets. The school finally ended this little business adventure, because the coloring or puzzle sheets had a price attached to it, And they were told, in no uncertain terms that all things within a school are to be provided free of no charge. The threat came next, if they persisted, they would receive detentions for their troubles.
As for off-loading the costs to parents in the typical public education system, donations of supplies are regularly accepted and recognized in school newsletters. There is an unwritten rule that parents who are willing to supply the local school, using their own business contacts and resources of different things such as paint for art class, the supplies are donated, and credit will be duly noted in a newsletter. No money is exchanged.
The written rule, is that all school suppliers go through the supply chain that operates at the board and province level, and never at the school level to complete for a contract. It leaves the local and small independents out of the bidding for contracts, and prevents local businesses within the school zone, from making a small profit regarding supplies to their children’s school. At the same time, the rules and protocols of the supply chain are hidden from the public and where the transactions between the school and the school board are hidden as to the true costs of the supplies. How much profit is being made on supplies within the education system, one can only speculate. But in a typical school’s budget, a trend of spending more for fewer supplies is common, with the use of accounting controls at the school level, where schools must follow the budget limit allotted for supplies. For more, see this Ontario report, pages 12 and 13 – http://www.ontla.on.ca/committee-proceedings/committee-reports/files_pdf/img-6011327-0001Eng.pdf
The off-loading to parents began in earnest when supplies purchased by the school were not meeting the demands of the school and their students.
Should taxpayers be funding extra-curricular activities?
Should all families have to support extra-curricular activities their children don’t participate in or should it only be the participants?
The answer is rather self-evident, I should think.
We’ve been around this issue at length in Ontario in 2000/2001 when the answer to your question “should taxpayers be funding extra-curricular activities?”, the unanimous answer from Ontarians was “yes”.
Going back to school triggers not only financial stress for families, but can also tyrigger asthma attacks in children and teens. A Canadian Press story (August 16, 2011) ran on CTV News and in the Metro chain of daily newspapers.
The key facts, according to Canadian Press:
“Each year, the so-called “September epidemic” strikes legions of children who suffer from asthma, a respiratory condition that affects roughly 10 per cent of children and causes more than 200 deaths annually, according to Statistics Canada.
Studies show the first few weeks of school bring a boom in asthma attacks — violent, often terrifying episodes marked by coughing, wheezing and chest tightness — and trips to the emergency room.
Hospital visits hit a “dramatic peak” 17 days after Labour Day, a holiday generally considered the end of summer vacation, said Neil Johnston, an epidemiologist at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health in Hamilton.
For older teens and adults, the spike comes about a week later and isn’t as pronounced, said Johnston, who has analyzed the phenomenon in a number of studies.”
For the full story, see http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110815/asthma-back-to-school-110815/20110815/?hub=TorontoNewHome
“Back to School ads signal the start of an annual family shopping spree. Shopping expeditions begin in early August, as parents with kids in tow, hit the stores to attack long lists of school supply ‘must haves,’ fall clothes, the latest sports gear and mobile electronic devices.”
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Latest sports gear, fall clothes, mobile electronic devices are “back to school costs”?
Let’s get a grip here, folks.
Surveying the recent wave of news stories, I’m afraid that, in many families beset by “affluenza,” the latest electronic device and the trendy new gear somehow become “must have” items. Meanwhile, many families in poorer ares of Halifax, according to CBC Radio reporter Shaina Luck, must rely on Food Banks for basic school supplies.
Downloading education costs falls unevenly on families, as you well know, and school “start up costs” seem to be beyond the means of far too many families.
Nonetheless, including luxuries as “must haves” is a serious distortion.
“Must haves” would probably cost under $100.00 per school year.
“Latest sports gear, fall clothes, mobile electronic devices are “back to school costs”?
Let’s get a grip here, folks.”
Andrew, part of the school culture, and in part the demands of the school. Coming to the first day of school without sporting new clothes, makes an inviting target for other kids. Uniforms does not solve the problem either, because the price of uniforms keeps going up, and parents are having a difficult time to purchased the parts of the uniforms, that far outstrips the costs of regular clothing. Latest sports gear, which means running shoes, equipment that the school no longer provides, such as shin pads for soccer teams, special running shoes that leaves no marks on the gym floor, and a whole host of other requests mainly coming from the school. Than their is the quality factor, and I mean quality does not mean the highest price paid, the better the quality. Quality is lacking,in the sense that the products cannot take the rough and tumble world of kids, and sometimes the products are so poor in quality, they fall apart after a few days of use. Between book bags, running shoes, sports gear, erasers, glue sticks and everything in between a parent has to become a smart shopper, and that only comes with experience. After all these years, I know what to look for but it came with paying the price. My child has her first book bag, still in prefect shape, not a rip in it, and used throughout the primary grades. Repeated washings did not fade the colours, or loosen the seams, nor did it decide to self-destruct like a lot of other book bags I have purchased over the years. But alas she outgrew the Barbie book bag, and I have been on the hunt ever since, looking for the same quality. Hard to find, on top of the need to consider the school culture, who are rough with kids who do not have a book bag that meets their approval.
It is not a distortion, nor do the must-haves cost under $100 per year. I only wish that to be true, but the reality the must-haves whether coming from the school or peer pressure or school culture, realistically the must-haves are well over $500. Throw in the quality factor, the following years monies spent on the start of the school year, can be reduce to the $200 mark. I am in the position now, where school supplies have be reduced down to less than $50, and it always help to ignore the demands of the school, such as 3 inch binders. Binders that size run anywhere between $6 to as high as $12, and as for quality, questionable at the very least. This year, I opted for something different, after spending a considerable amount of monies on binders, that were colour divided, plastic sleeves, rubber rings, where a semester worth of work could be retained, and later transferred to the 3 inch binders. The quality was not there, and even the 3 inch binders sitting at home, that I paid only $3 for, were all falling apart. What was kept was the colour dividers, and the other goodies within the binders, to be put in the hard plastic 1.5 inch binders purchased at the dollar store. The only way these binders are going to far apart, is to leave them out on the coldest night of the year, but by chance if one of they should far apart, it will hurt a lot less in the pocketbook than the previous binders that I purchased.
But will it change under any school system? I think it will only get worse, as schools opt more to download costs of schooling to the parents, and depend on charity of the people, to provide the basics for families who cannot provide. No doubt, there is a bean counter somewhere in the government trying to figure out a way to extract more money out of the parents, Such as the common rule of indoor shoes and outdoor shoes, and where parents have to buy an extra pair of shoes, that does not leave marks on the floors of the school. Apparently, it was for the expressed reason of keeping the school cleaner, but after reading Paul’s article on asthma attacks starting in September, it was to cover the fact of reduced janitorial staff in our schools. What the article did not mentioned, are the allergies that come once school starts again, from the use of cleansers, other chemicals,to clean up the dirt. I don’t know what is worse – a desk that is clean only once a month or a desk that has a fresh dose of chemicals to clean up the germs and dirt.
Buy into the “school culture” nonsense if you wish. I won’t.
No one’s holding a gun to the heads of parents to purchase the bells and whistles of school supplies. None whatsoever.
Parents do it because they’re hooked on the marketing and buying power they believe will give their kids an educational edge.
They’ve been effectively brainwashed.
I know many parents who simply don’t bite the bait of Back To School hype, however, too many still do, otherwise the free market wouldn’t cater to that demand.
I have to say that the system – via teachers, boards, etc. contribute to the culture of “must have” by adding to the long list of supplies.
Other parents also contribute to the “must have” school supply stress.
Parents find out quickly that none of those material “must haves” actually help children learn. Rather they’re nice diversions from what should be on the minds of parents and students – learning the basics and using those programs, methods and mindsets that cost very little but borrow heavily on the will to improve.
Just looked at the Grade 7 supplies list for our local high school – it’s around $100. for the entire school year.
So where’s the panic?
what’s the consequence if parents refuse to buy those things?
Zip, Zero.
Parents ARE wimps when it comes to sucking it up and standing their ground on what they’re prepared to shell out for.
It is the pressure that is coming at all sides, and the advertisers only know that too well, when back to school ads are up and running. What lies in behind the motivation of parents to buy designer wear clothing for their child in grade 2? The scenes of the year before, of the stories of other children teasing their child for wearing non designer clothing. School culture is hard to fight, when it is more or less being ruled by those who have higher social status than other parents, and their children reflect that status. It is hard to go against the flow, without worrying about the increase teasing and bullying that is occurring at the school, regarding clothing, shoes, book bags, and the latest in school supplies. The schools could do a better job concerning the negative impacts of the school culture, and how they play a role in it.
Good grief. When did our society become such wimps?
I agree with you Andrew…actually just said so before reading your comment here.
“The schools could do a better job concerning the negative impacts of the school culture, and how they play a role in it.”
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Whoah a second.
That there’s plenty wrong with our public education is one thing but let’s not dump parental indiscipline on their backs as well.
Or is it that parents are the main scapegoats for the ills of society, including education? Just last week, a particular organization which will go nameless, funded by federal dollars, was telling parents their kids were too fat, and must exercised for 60 minutes a day. All kinds of helpful suggestions, and where the 60 minutes of exercise all takes place after school. Going on the site, not one mentioned of the schools’ role in the reduction of physical activities and the connection to the rising obesity rate. No connection to the fees that are attached to playing sports in school, and the number of students who do not engage in sports because of the fees.
One of the biggest problems that society has, can be described in one word – consumerism. Just not parents are caught up in it, but can be found in government departments, and right across the spectrum when it is time to purchase products. Within an education system, they too are impacted as well, and the budgets reflects this as well. In a 2006 report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, on exposing schoolhouse commercialism reflects the connections.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Our_Schools_Ourselve/os_os_commercialism.pdf
Parents aren’t the victims re: this issue Nancy. Not by a long shot. There’s no scapegoating going on, no penalty or consequence if parents don’t buy in to the hype.
The extra-curricular issue is different to that of falling for the Back To School hype.
Consumers have a choice. Parents are consumers.
Many parents are simply afraid to say “no” to the requests of their kids, and the teachers who ask for such long list of supplies.
But simply imposing no, has its consequences somewhere down the line, as does saying yes to a request, that is dependent on an exchange of money to make it happen. It is not only the September school lists, but as well as the other requests being made over the course of the year. I am trying to point out, that parents are caught in a catch-22, trying to maintain a balance within their own personal situations. I for one, would never delivered 15 duo-tangs on the first day of school, only to see them go to what is known as the common property of the classroom. But a lot of parents do, and look at me as if I had horns coming out of my head, and a bit selfish on my part. It is the social consequences, and sometimes that is a lot harsher than whatever the school is stating.
And I disagree that the back-to-school stuff is different from the extra-curricular issue. Parents and their kids still have to decide in the fall, what extra curricular activities that they are going to join, if any. First thing for a lot of schools, the school wants the money up front, and thankfully that hasn’t arrived in NL. But it might be important to note, even though extra-curricular activities have no fees up-front, be warn a parent’s pocketbook might be drained from the transportation and over-night stays in participating in these activities. The most recent example, was a sports team where the parents had to come up with the $250 per student, for the championship games. When school boards cuts funding to transportation to events that have been arranged by the school board, the main organizers, the burden shifts to the parents and the local school to secure the necessary funding.
It represents the downloading of costs to the parents on not only the growing list of required school supplies, but on other things as well that are not truly representative of the basics in educating a child. To some parents, as well as schools, the extra-curricular activities does wonders for a student in discipline, self-esteem, and positive attitudes. Sure, there is choice – but if the choice boils down to how much money one has in their pocketbook – is that really choice we have?
Making excuses for irresponsible behaviour also has its consequences.
The only similarity between the back-to-school buying hype and extra-curriculars is that it’s totally the choice of the parent & student whether or not they participate.
Based on individual needs, finances, and it still comes down to the choice of individuals to buy or not, or to participate or not.
If parents stopped being such easy marks and so guilted into things by the system, and their kids maybe the requests would stop.
As long as parents willing open their wallets, whether it’s to pay for a child to join a band or club, or whether it’s buying all of the items on the school’s supply list then not much will change.
Definitely.
It’s rather odd to give in to the hype and then complain about it.
Than what you are actually saying, the benefits gained from participating in the extra-curricular activities are not as important or do not play an important role in making the decision to participate. The choice is more important, than the underlying factors behind the choice. Yet, I would argue that is does play a major role when it comes to the benefits and values of the activity. With money acting as the tie-breaker, if one is met with indecision, or too many choices.
What do you think if a group of parents, decided to say no in their school? I don’t think it will ever happen because of the values and benefits that is derived from purchasing a school product, or enrolling into an after-school activity, I think the reason why parents gripe after the fact, is the quality factor. Dissatisfaction of the product or the activity, no matter what kind of money that was spent. How about erasers that do not erase, glue sticks that have glue that do not stick, or paper so thin that it is easy to ripped holes, or pencil leads breaking at the first sign of pressure. Or the kid sitting on a team, being a bench warmer?
And this is on top on all the other extras that are asked throughout the year and is part of the regular curriculum. I remembered one year, looking for report covers, for the regional science fair. Must have, and part of the rules, and I was not going to travel 52 kms over snow covered roads at night to locate report covers. So she did without, and it turned out that the judges dislike report covers, and were scratching their heads why it was part of the rules in the first place. More interested in the content and correct format, than a report cover on the report. The next year, the rule was dropped, as well as having report covers for any essay style reports in school. The expense related with the science fair, well under $50, had high value in my eyes, seeing my youngest excel and become serious competition to other students who thought of her as being dumb. But I still can gripe on the organization of science fairs, the lousy food, and a host of other issues that I am already beginning to question the value of science fairs. But I can’t say no, because science is a high interest activity for my youngest.
“Than what you are actually saying, the benefits gained from participating in the extra-curricular activities are not as important or do not play an important role in making the decision to participate.”
IF that’s in response to me you’re very good at reading that which isn’t there and missing that which is. IF not, then the statement does not apply.
“Than what you are actually saying, the benefits gained from participating in the extra-curricular activities are not as important or do not play an important role in making the decision to participate”
No one that’s posted so far has said anything of the sort.
You’re crossing your wires on the issues Nancy as in this
“What do you think if a group of parents, decided to say no in their school? I don’t think it will ever happen because of the values and benefits that is derived from purchasing a school product, or enrolling into an after-school activity, I think the reason why parents gripe after the fact, is the quality factor. Dissatisfaction of the product or the activity, no matter what kind of money that was spent. How about erasers that do not erase, glue sticks that have glue that do not stick, or paper so thin that it is easy to ripped holes, or pencil leads breaking at the first sign of pressure. Or the kid sitting on a team, being a bench warmer?”
Parents saying no to the constant requests to buy things happens more often than you realize. I’ve done it. Actually, I remember clearly that when our school’s soccer team won a local tournament that advanced them to the OFSSA final in Dryden Ontario that required a cost of $1000 per student, parents said “no” to the price tag. What happened then was that the team players themselves conducted a fundraiser to scramble to get the money AND the coach went back to the board and guess what? Money was found.
It was an effort better appreciated by those it was meant to help – the students.
What value do you get from purchasing school supplies? I personally managed to hold off until two or three weeks in to the school year because often the supplies purchased don’t get used. I was big on saving unused items from the year before – and there were always half-used note books, and a collection of writing materials that I’m STILL using even though my kids are now in university.
You sound like you’re arguing for and against the same thing Nancy.
CBC Radio reporter Shaina Luck ( CBC News Nova Scotia) first broke the news story that Halifax Region food banks were low on school supplies. She’s a young, investigative reporter well connected to local communities.
I invited her to post and she sent back this message:
“You are welcome to post or link to the web version of the piece”
For the full story from Chebucto Connections, click on:
http://ht.ly/61hBL
A prime example of fine investigative reporting! Shaina is one of the relatively few not content to chase sound bites from the usual suspects.
In Nova Scotia, do either the school boards or gov’t have a clear handle on just how much each school is asking of the parents to provide, or how much it costs in extra fees for things like extra-curriculars?
I’m asking because up until a few years ago in our board in Ontario, when parents complained loudly about the fact that one school was asking for a huge list of supplies to be purchased by parents while another school didn’t ask for much, the board had no idea of the discrepancy.
Same for how much and how many fees are charged for “extras” ?
If the board had no idea, then the Ministry of Education hadn’t a clue either, but worse, there was no record being kept.
Parents have an opportunity here to kick this right out in to the open…if they wish.
Re: the lack of basic supplies and now requiring food banks to outreach their communities – my thinking on this is that someone needs to really do an impact study on what students really need to get through a school year. If it’s just the basics then maybe boards and gov’t's need to dial down their wish lists of items from parents?
Wow what a heated debate. I myself don’t have a school aged child just yet. But the daycare my 4 year old goes to which costs over 1/3 of my husband’s daily earnings (after tax) often does “fundraisers”. I don’t mind paying people a good wage for the job they do and my son is certainly worth it. However I feel that’s what we are doing already given the cost. So back to school costs just seem to pale in comparison to daycare.
My in my professional role I deal with client’s spending all the time. The issue has several layers here:
1. People apply a different filter to the term “must haves” some people think a cell phone is a must have, some think you must have a pencil
2. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” the retailers have turned this in to a major buying event for the consumer don’t under estimate the unconscious buying ques all over these stores during back to school shopping
3. Whether we like it or not we are not all on the same economic footing and even the grown-ups who make the purchase decisions can be affected by peer pressure
Should parents be responsible for these costs? They will be either way. Either out of pocket, or out of taxes. Paying for it through our taxes may limit our choice, ability to control the cost and would involve some sort of bureaucratic process that will cost even more. Either way we’ll pay the price. The way it is now you have some degree of choice, so exercise it and while you are at it teach your kids about money. Your best option is to choose wisely, set a spending limit before you go shopping (take cash only works great), and get the kids involved in the decision process.
I would love school supplies to be FREE but the truth is they wouldn’t be free they’d be included and the price would go up…you’d be paying a politician to decide what brand of coloured pencils our kids should use after all; and that could take some time.
If we were really smart we’d get some group buying company like Groupon to put together group school supply buying lists and make the most of that which we can control!
Is there not a system in Nova Scotia, such as the one in my province where the collection of school bags and supplies are collected by non-profit groups, and other interested businesses, such as banks or even a main shopping mall, and than the bags and supplies are forward to the food banks, church groups, and other non-profit agencies for distribution?
The best part, it covers all of the province, and the school bags and supplies that are collected in a region or community, remains in the region. The local banks does a stellar job in the rural areas concerning their charitable activities in donating their time and money to local issues concerning children, as well as being used as a central collecting point.
“For the past four years, along with the support of various church congregations, we have operated the Bag to School Program. Bag to School draws on the support of church congregations, community centres and corporate sponsors to ensure children in need have the necessary supplies for a successful school year. Bridges To Hope provided over 300 children in the St. John’s area with school bags and supplies for the 2010-2011 school year. This year, some agencies around St. John’s have discontinued their school bag services which will place extra strain on the Bag to School Program at Bridges To Hope. We would like to ask for the continued generosity of the congregation as this year there will be more need than ever. Each schoolbag, on average, costs about $35 to compile and monetary donations (cash, debit, visa & mastercard) or school supplies suitable for K – 12 and adult basic education can be made at Bridges To Hope’s general office located at 39 Cookstown Rd. Thank you for your continuing support and generosity.”
http://www.stjamesuc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/July-24-2011.pdf
The last time, I went to my bank, there was well over 150 book bags donated, and a jar full of money stuff to the brim. As well as donating directly , without providing cash. Food banks are not known to distributed book bags, but in some rural locations it might be the case. But for the most part, it is the strong network of churches in NL, that is used for distributing the book bags and supplies.
From what I can understand, concerning the supply list of schools, it is left up to the individual school. The next link is the NL ministry of education regarding questions on fees and supply lists.
“It seems the schools are asking for excessive supplies (e.g., placemats, tennis balls, baby wipes). Why is this necessary and am I required to supply these?
The list of school supplies is at the discretion of the school. If you feel that a supply is unnecessary, please contact the school principal.”
http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/faq/schoolfees.html#q04
If it is set up like the above, as Catharine has suggested it could be an opportunity to kick it out in the open. But made more difficult, because the decision rests on the individual schools, rather than a board level or ministry decision. Where are the school councils on this one?
“Is there not a system in Nova Scotia, such as the one in my province where the collection of school bags and supplies are collected by non-profit groups, and other interested businesses, such as banks or even a main shopping mall, and than the bags and supplies are forward to the food banks, church groups, and other non-profit agencies for distribution?”
Pauls link and post suggests otherwise Nancy.
It all comes down to what we deem to be truly necessary and what others tell us is truly necessary.
You’re right that doors need to be kicked open on this.
Where are the school councils on this one?
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Making nice-nice with the board. They have absolutely no power.
Or fundraising Andrew – don’t forget that important educational role for parents as “partners” in the system.
“The way it is now you have some degree of choice, so exercise it and while you are at it teach your kids about money. Your best option is to choose wisely, set a spending limit before you go shopping (take cash only works great), and get the kids involved in the decision process.”
A common sense approach to which I would support “themoneyfinder”.
If we were smarter still though we’d be able to decide for ourselves what is truly necessary when it comes to supplies for school and which aren’t.
I don’t like being told what to do by either governments or the manufacturers of school supplies who gear their ads to the students first and parents holding the purse strings second.
I was really surprised one year when I bought everything on the list only to have some of what I had bought provided by the school.
Definitely more left hand knowing what the right hand is doing communication on this issue is becoming quite apparent.
Definitely more left hand knowing what the right hand is doing communication on this issue is becoming quite apparent.
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Now that’s a dream.
In Nova Scotia, do either the school boards or gov’t have a clear handle on just how much each school is asking of the parents to provide, or how much it costs in extra fees for things like extra-curriculars?
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Neither the government nor the school boards have much of a clue about anything that goes on in the schools – at least that’s how it appears.
As to classroom supplies, each teacher is supposed to write up a list prior to the beginning of the school year that is somehow forwarded to parents- frequently a few weeks into the new school year.
Apparently, the Nova Scotia School Board Association offers a service to our school boards of “central purchasing”. They say, “This program offers participating school boards cost savings, centralized negotiations, standardization of products, independent product testing and improved product quality on a number of goods and services through the use of bulk purchasing. Presently, bulk purchasing is done on photocopies, photocopiers, paper and petrol.” This is from their web-site, http://www.nssba.ca/new/index.php?cid=16&pid=82&lang=e
Too bad they couldn’t expand their list of items. I would put kleenex on therefor the grade primaries, and maybe the 1′s and 2′s.
Also, why is it that the elementary grades need soooo many particular items and brand names of things? In high school, they drop this whole thing. Of course, then you are paying all kinds of user fees. No wonder it ticks me off to hear the HRSB members talking about generating revenue. We send in supplies, we pay user fees, we already paid our taxes, and then the school board wants to find ways to drain a little bit more out of us. I realize we live in one of the best countries on earth and so many others don’t have access to education at all, but I think we can organize the school supply thing a little better. i mean, the parents are out there, literally bumping into each other in the store aisles, picking up the same package of coloured pencils. Every year, I think to myself, ‘There has GOT to be a better way to do this. “
The NSSBA is a joke.
Here’s a possible solution – send dad’s shopping – apparently they have more money sense and willpower to say no to sales and demands.
http://www.abc12.com/story/15157199/survey-shows-moms-spending-less-on-back-to-school-this-year-due-to-the-economy-dads-are-more-confident?clienttype=printable
I didn’t see any new issue or change here. Schools in some areas (and not others) have sent home requests for students to prepare for school with various “school supplies” for many decades, while other schools (serving low-income populations) did not do this, knowing they would have to supply the paper, pencils, crayons and books for the kids. I’ve been in more than a dozen elementary schools in Ontario, none of which ever sent home supply lists for parents. Parents do often ask, informally, if there is anything they can donate to the class that will be helpful. Many teachers suggest boxes of Kleenex, paper of various kinds, used children’s books, paper towels and paper cups..
What no one has mentioned is the enormous disparity that exists in this area: first of all in funding to the school for basic supplies (varies enormously within boards), access to materials needed for a rich curriculum (including arts, lots of reading material, and materials for drama, science and music), and allocations of funding to classrooms. Certainly with economic strictures, the need to purchase supplies out of limited family budgets becomes more of an issue — but it is not a new issue by any means.
However, there have been significant changes that haven’t been mentioned. Funding for classroom supplies has been radically reduced over the years, while costs for the needed materials have risen sharply. In my first school, I got an allowance of $900/year for classroom supplies and textbooks. That didn’t seem like wealth at the time, but it would be a fortune — probably several thousand dollars — today. At a school where I taught in downtown Toronto, the budget for each classroom for supplies and textbooks was $50/year. Yes, that’s right, fifty dollars for the whole year. That didn’t even buy you enough notebooks, pencils and rulers for opening day. The school had many classrooms with no textbooks, no AV equipment, no reference materials. Our wall maps showed the Belgian Congo and the atlases were from 1954. This was 50 years later.
Few of the students had families that could afford purchasing materials, so who did? Supplying classroom needs in low-SES schools often falls to the teachers. Numerous studies in both the USA and Canada have found that the mean figure spent annually by elementary teachers for classroom supplies for students is approximately $500. However, in middle and upper-income schools, teachers rarely need to do that. In the school mentioned above, my next door neighbour took out a bank loan for about $5000 to outfit her classroom with basics for the students. On my teacher email loops, many report spending $1000 and more every year.
On the other hand, in well-equipped schools everything is supplied. I was working at a PD session with a teacher from an affluent TDSB school. She reported that when she asked for one of her math texts to be replaced (fingermarks on some pages), the entire class set was replaced over the weekend; there was so much money in the school’s petty cash account that they had most of it in short-term investment certificates, and every class had digital cameras, computers ,scanners, document cameras, SMART boards and technology out the wazoo. “If I want a class set of anything,” she told me, “I have only to ask and I’ll get what I need within a day or two.” A friend teaching in another district told me parents regularly donate large amounts of money for classroom supplies. The school council gives every teacher $400 at the beginning of the year, and a parent concerned about math achievement donated $1000 to each classroom for math materials.
These discrepancies are real but rarely discussed, for obvious reasons. We prefer the myth that we provide all students with equal opportunity. We do not. However, we can move in that direction. One change I would like to see would be to make school supplies and curriculum materials tax-deductible for both parents and teachers.
The U.S. blogger Mamacita recently had an interesting post on the school supplies motif:
http://www.janegoodwin.net/2011/08/09/community-school-supplies-hands-off-my-pencils/#comments
She reports a phenomenon that I have not seen here: compulsory pooling of individual kids’ supplies. While most schools I have been in do have common materials shared (say, a basket on each table with rulers, erasers and scissors that are classroom supplies), students are free to have their own and keep them separate, as many do.
Then there’s the whole question of the TDSB’s ability to manage their finances effectively in the first place.
We’re assuming they have done so…..but by what you’re sharing TDSB I would bet that there’s some additional dysfunction in the TDSB’s financial management effectiveness.
We sure found out plenty about where their money went when the province conducted it’s forensic audit several years back.
If I were and educator or parent in that board I’d have lost confidence years ago.
I’d be more inclined as a parent to take the word of the classroom teacher on the day of or the week into the new school year and work that way.
You also fail to mention TDSB that at many stores teachers NOT parents get all kinds of deals on school supplies when they’re purchased at the retailer and can be added to what the teacher is allotted per year.
” One change I would like to see would be to make school supplies and curriculum materials tax-deductible for both parents and teachers. ”
Now I like that idea very much. Australia has its own tax credit for school supplies and other related education expenses.
“The Education Tax Refund (ETR) helps with the cost of educating primary and secondary school children. Eligible parents, carers, legal guardians and independent students are able to get money back on education expenses. These include items like computers, educational software, textbooks and stationery. You may get 50% of your money back.
If you get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A, you probably are eligible for the ETR. There are also some payments that prevent you from receiving FTB Part A, but which still entitle you to receive the refund. You can also claim the refund if you are an independent student. For more information, see Am I eligible?”
http://www.educationtaxrefund.gov.au/what-is-the-education-tax-refund.html
Now wouldn’t that be nice, and strikes rather a nice way of balancing expenses against the growing list of demands from the schools and school boards.
And yes compulsory pooling is common in Canada, and I believe it is happening because of the decreased funding for classrooms. Last year, as in the pass 10 years, classroom funding has decreased among the typical schools that are of middle to low income schools. One of the high school teachers told me last year, he had a grand total of $45 to spend in response to my own response why my youngest refuses to share her own stash of supplies in her book bag. As Mamacita points out in her article, “This business of everything being community property in the classroom causes problems in the upper levels, too. Junior high, high school, even college students, are expecting things to be available for them without any effort on their part. Upper level students come to class without pencils, erasers, paper, etc, because they’re used to having those things always available in some community bin somewhere in the room. They have never been required, or allowed, to maintain their own things, and now they don’t know how to. The stuff was always just THERE, for a student to help himself to. And now that they are supposed to maintain their own, they really don’t know how. Plus, why should they? HEY, I need a pencil, Teach, gimme one. No, not that one, that other one there. Indeed,” And if not, the same students seen to think that the personal stuff of other students, are to be freely shared by those who do not not bother to bring pencils and paper of their own. I have even heard with my own ears, some parents boasting of their kid’s ability to obtain their school supplies by mooching off other kids.
Some places that support homeschooling parents do offer tax breaks on supplies….in Canada.
I was in a local store yesterday and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears as a teenager literally bullied her mother into buying things she didn’t need. The discussion between the two grew loud and it was impossible NOT to hear the girl’s belittling of her mother in public…..the mother gave in. It was disgusting and there was no way that I would have given in to that child. I felt embarrassed for the mom, and had to wonder what their home life was like.
…when the province conducted it’s forensic audit several years back
I am not aware of any “forensic audit” ever being conducted in the TDSB. There has been much discussion over the years on the need for one. Financial mismanagement is nothing new, nor is it confined to Toronto. Many U.S. districts make the TDSB look like paragons of financial prudence.Other kinds of audits have taken place. Can you provide references to this forensic audit? Or are you perhaps thinking of the now-defunct variance reports the province published that showed what each board was allocated in each budget line and how much of it they spent? The TDSB was of interest because it vastly underspent in caretaking, maintenance, textbooks, etc. and vastly exceeded the allotted amount on “central administration,” by a factor of 5 IIRC.
You also fail to mention TDSB that at many stores teachers NOT parents get all kinds of deals on school supplies when they’re purchased at the retailer and can be added to what the teacher is allotted per year
I failed to mention it because I have no idea what you are talking about. Stores like Staples give teacher discounts on certain occasions (providing you have photo ID from your employer, which I don’t), but the “all kinds of deals” are usually not worth pursuing. You get 10% off merchandise that is 30% more at that outlet than elsewhere. Hmmm. Not such a deal. But whatever do you mean by:
“can be added to what the teacher is allotted per year”? Allotted by whom? The school? You have to buy through school sources, and all your selected items must be approved.. Personal purchases are not reimbursed except under very unusual circumstances, by pre-arrangement.
For the benefit of any teachers (or parents) wanting to know where to get good, cheap school supplies (esp. in bulk): E-Bay is your best bet, followed by various dollar store chains, and several online purchasing companies in the U.S., such as reallygoodstuff.com. They will not ship to Canada, however, so you need a U.S. mailing address or co-operative friend near the border. On the U.S. side of the border, Dollar Tree and Target are both good sources for many school items at substantially lower cost than here. Liquidation outlets can also be a bonanza: you may pick up new, name-brand items (Crayola markers, Laurentian pencils, Hilroy notebooks and binders) in quantity at rock-bottom prices, but you never know what you’ll find and have to check regularly.
“I am not aware of any “forensic audit” ever being conducted in the TDSB.”
“Can you provide references to this forensic audit?”
Yes I can TDSB. With your years at the TDSB I’m surprised you missed the news as it appeared, well, practically everywhere in 2002 when the province appointed Al Rosen to conduct a forensic audit.
Rosen’s findings led to his recommendation that the province take over the board from elected trustees. (August 2002 was the release of Rosen’s report).
“Dysfunctional. Misguided. Shortsighted. Reluctant to accept change. Motivated by priorities that have little to do with improving education, much less representing taxpayers.” was how Rose describe what he found to the Education Minister of the day.
“pargons of financial prudence” – I think not TDSB.
The Toronto Star reported that Rosen’s audit team “have serious concerns that a disproportionate share of available funding dollars have been, and are being, diverted away from the classrooms.”
The Toronto Sun quotes Rosen as placing the blame “solely on the shoulders of board staff and trustees, leaving them frustrated and angered but not surprised.”
You must remember TDSB that Kathleen Wynne was smack dab in the centre of this don’t you?
There’s plenty more accounting of the forensic audit, of which I know is different from the defunct Variance Reports.
So, before you go chalking this issue on not enough funding, I’d be darn sure that you’re now supremely confident in the TDSB’s ability to manage it’s money and allocate to the schools and teachers what they are entitled to from the province.
re: stores that give teachers nice discounts. Staples, Michaels, to name a few give teachers very VERY good deals and discounts on items they purchase. I know this because I was with a relative who is a teacher who simply had to show a special card to receive the discount, who then saves the receipts and can apply it to the amount he’s allowed to spend for his classroom every year.
If you’ve never taken advantage of the teacher discounts, it’s not the retail store’s issue. They advertise it.
it’s more of a break then parents get on the same items.
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Static/static_pages.asp?CT=1&pagename=teacherappAug&RefType=Google&RefID=2009&cm_mmc=google-_-bts-_-Teacher%20School%20Supplies-_-discount%20teacher%20supplies&gclid=CIX-pJbT4KoCFYYUKgodzVDB-A
http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/
http://www.michaels.com/Create-for-Your-Classroom/teacher,default,pg.html
Ah, the Rosen report, from 9 years ago. Yes, I am familiar with it. It is available online here:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/tdsb.pdf
It also specifically states, on page 41, that no forensic audit was conducted. So my observation stands. While I am happy for Catherine’s relative that s/he can get “great deals” on school supplies in the manner Catherine described, I can only reaffirm that it does not work that way in any of the schools I have worked in (TDSB or other).
However, the past sins of various boards, or the experiences of one’s relatives, are tangential to the issue Paul has brought up: the increasing burden of providing school supplies that in the past were more frequently covered by existing funding.
This is an important issue, and it is unlikely to disappear. It’s not an issue of total funding, so much as of discretionary targeting of those funds, especially by management. In today’s economic climate, we are unlikely to see some fresh allocation of funds that would cover needed classroom expenditures — and even if we did, we would have no assurance the funds would actually get to the classroom. We can anticipate that parents and teachers will be in the position of making up the gap for the foreseeable future.
There’s an equity issue here, because the burden falls disproportionately on those with limited financial resources: low-income families, younger teachers who have not had the opportunity to stockpile their own teaching resources (and who may have outstanding student loans and young families of their own). Neither teachers nor parents in high-SES schools are suffering acutely.
Given those realities, what are some possible solutions?
(1) The tax credit/tax deductible route would be one way to go — and I think, like some tuitions charges, other clearly education-related expenses should be deductible, perhaps up to an identified ceiling, for instance, $500/child for a family, $1000/yr for a teacher. This could cover both office-supply type expenses and purchase of curriculum materials. Homeschoolers and afterschoolers would also benefit.
(2) Parents and teachers could form purchasing co-ops (as some homeschoolers in the US now do) to buy items in bulk at wholesale rates, and dispense them to members at cost. With social networking and online connectivity, this is doable even for people who live in rural or isolated areas, or in small towns far from wholesale outlets. Perhaps some of the special-interest parent groups (LD associations, Association for Community Living, Association for Bright Children, etc.) could also get involved. The more participants, the better the purchasing prices available.
A problem I see for many families who need this support is limited access to needed information. It would take some recruiting (with material in a number of languages) to inform and enlist many families who need these options the most.
But the time is ripe to lobby for a tax deduction for school supplies. My local MPP candidate has been calling on a “lower the tax burden” theme. I plan to bring this up, and I encourage other people to do the same. We need both political action from above and grass-roots coordination among parents and teachers to form buying cooperatives.. This would be a positive step going forward.
“However, the past sins of various boards, or the experiences of one’s relatives, are tangential to the issue Paul has brought up: the increasing burden of providing school supplies that in the past were more frequently covered by existing funding.”
You can’t dismiss me that fast TDSB, and I think that the sins and practices of how boards manage and disperse their allocations is very much in question.
You say so yourself “It’s not an issue of total funding, so much as of discretionary targeting of those funds, especially by management.”
The TDSB was (is) hardly the role model and from the many sources I read that tagged what Rosin did as a forensic audit – not one was taken to task for the error and those stories still stand as far as most are concerned,
We were all there….we remember it well but perhaps things have changed.
Lobbying for school supplies isn’t necessary when parents and students together make their buying decisions based on what individual teachers feel the students really need in a given school year….not by retailers, school board staff, administrations or governments unless there is common agreement among those of what constitutes the necessities of tools necessary for a student to be educated in our schools that is.
The discounts out there no matter how small TDSB suggests are for educators, at least they’re there which is more than is there for parents.
My wife used to collect orders from parents, go to the “school store” and get the discounted school supplies under her name.
The tax deduction for related school expenses should be at the federal level as well. As for co-ops, how would it work at a board level comparing a model at the school level? Since a co-op is a means of keeping dollars in the consumer’s pockets, as opposed to increasing the profits at the supplier level, would there not be screaming from the retailers, dealing with large boards who have the capacity to engaged in asking for large discounts? Just curious on how it would operate in a big city like Toronto, as well as in the rural areas.
But there is federal funding for co-ops, and co-ops is a growing sector, Would the retailers scream blue bloody murder, if a good chunk of the public schools opted to form a co-op for school supplies?
, http://cccm.coopscanada.coop/en
I was not suggesting that individual schools join or form a co-op: that would be an entirely different matter, and one which might not meet the guidelines for what a “co-op” usually is.
My thought was that a co-op comprised of individuals (families could get a family membership) would be the way to go. Would retailers object? Possibly, since they always object to competition. However, selling to a co-op could also increase their sales volume and the lower unit prices might well be offset by quantity. I would anticipate that a group would need several hundred members to have effective purchasing power, but given the size of the potential membership it could easily be much greater.
Schools already have arrangements with major suppliers to obtain materials at a reduced rate, so I don’t see the need for school memberships. What we are trying to address is the shortfall between what schools provide (purchased at a discount, no doubt) and what students and teachers need for a rich curriculum and learning activities. Supplementary instructional materials for addressing diverse learning levels and needs should be included. It takes a lot of “stuff” to effectively “differentiate instruction,” but the policy wonks rarely address these practical details. If parents and teachers could access supplementary materials easily and at low cost, we could much more effectively target the learning needs of students as well as ensuring that there were adequate classroom basics (pencils, erasers, notebooks, binders) for all.
I had a quick look at the link you provided. I’m familiar with rural co-ops in several areas (I belong to one), but I am not sure whether a school materials purchasing co-op would fit the criteria given, except possibly under “innovative services” or, where applicable, rural and northern development. Even should a school-supplies cooperative not fit the CDI mandate, it could still be organized and managed by those who need and use it, perhaps covering costs with small annual membership fees, which would be more than offset by savings. Target market would include not only families and teachers in public schools, but also homeschoolers, individuals involved in community-based literacy programs and the like, and parents of children in private schools who also often supplement the school program with tutoring or extra practice, and would value a price break on the materials required. Negotiating a group discount on some online learning opportunities would also be beneficial.
The co-op could also be managed almost entirely online, thus reducing the need for storage and office space. I think it’s an idea worthy of serious thought.
Parents need to educate themselves on their buying choices and that includes school supplies. Based on their own experiences, grade level and budget then a decision can be made.
When we cut to those things that many credit with receiving a quality education it’s usually about the teacher quality first and foremost….not the number of amount of tools needed by the student to do the job.
It’s not always about money and what it buys…or not.
That is workable, especially in rural locations and low income schools. By using the skills, abilities and those who have business contacts, buying in bulk the school supplies, and other diverse instruction materials, should posed no problem, I rather buy paper for 50 cents, rather than the price of $2.98 starting from the third week of September or so. This year, it was even more difficult to buy the 200 pack, compared to the new downsized package of 150. Will next year bring the 100 or 125 pack?
I would really like to see a education tax credit, like the one in Australia, which would include the big ticket items.
No forensic audit of the TDSB. Below is a link to the report of the investigation.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/tdsb.pdf
Rather interesting statement from Andrew’s link but is of no surprise. “Nevertheless, we have serious concerns that a disproportionate share of available funding dollars have been, and are being, diverted away from the classrooms.”
I believed that there has never been a forensic audit on any part of the education system, anywhere in Canada. But there has been demands for a forensic audit from time to time. No doubt if a forensic audit did occur, one would find the true number of dollars being diverted away from the classrooms. And one part, would be the funding dollars relating to classroom supplies, which has dwindled down to small amounts of $50 or so in some classrooms,
I believed that there has never been a forensic audit on any part of the education system, anywhere in Canada
Actually, there has been. Ernst & Young conducted a forensic audit of the TCDSB (Toronto Catholic board) in 2008, but I believe the investigation was limited to trustee expenditures, not general board spending.
A propos of back-to-school expenses, the Toronto Star has several articles today in the “Moneyville” section:
http://www.moneyville.ca
In the moneyville site, an interesting article on tax credits that would have some benefit for parents.
http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1041147–an-easy-way-to-get-800-back-from-the-tax-man
“Children’s Arts Tax Credit: New this year is a federal tax credit for costs of participation in artistic, cultural, recreational or developmental activities. It includes literary, visual and performing arts, music or language lessons, too. Costs of instruction, equipment, uniforms, facility rental and administration costs included in the registration or membership fees qualify.”
The wording above indicates that tutoring would be covered under developmental activities, and under language.
It has long been my view that schools ought to supply all text books, paper pens pencils art supplies etc. They can buy in bulk orders that parents cannot. Why is ‘a desk’ free but paper is not free. An innovative idea my basketball coach followed was that each player bought their bb jersey for $40 but kept it after the season. Only new team members were supplied with jerseys next year at their own cost. Players were happy to keep their shirts as a keep-sake.
Still happening Doug, and more so now, on players buying their own clothing, and has extended to safety gear, such as shin pads. Also, in some places the students purchased their own, and it is expected that all gear is donated to the school. Try that one where I lived, it did work out well and as a result have dropped it.
More on the topic from the Ottawa Citizen:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/dilemma+paying+school+essentials/5286533/story.html
For Catherine’s teacher quality argument, the Corporate Reform movement has attempted to scapegoat teachers now that their charters, vouchers, testing and anti-democratic Mayoral control have all failed to move the needle even one mm. Corporate Reformers can blame anyone they want but as each new attack fails have any impact, people will again begin to look at poverty where all serious research ends up.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/anthony-cody/the-bad-teacher-bogeyman-and-w.html
…For Catherine’s teacher quality argument
Are you sure you are posting to the right thread? This is a discussion on back-to-school expenses, not corporate reform or teacher quality.It’s not clear what you are responding to (since it is not anything posted on this thread).
Doug has only one or two dead horses left to flog. The others rotted away.
“The Ontario Ministry of Education released a guideline in March emphasizing that all fees for items essential for a child to succeed in school — pencils, paper, textbooks and mandatory guest speakers — are voluntary purchases this year.”
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/dilemma+paying+school+essentials/5286533/story.html#ixzz1VmxSC2lZ
Mandatory guest speakers??? Who are the mandatory guest speakers, because in my area, if if was even implied that the school wanted money to cover a guest speaker personal appearance, most parents would elect to have their kids stay home, rather than being force into a catch-22 social situation, and the implied government statement that the fees are voluntary.
Some of the comments are darn right nasty, except for the few that wrote talking about my pet peeve, the supplies brought by parents, staying in the classroom.
I had to laugh about the argument that is being used, is the 46 % increase in funding to boards, and where the Ottawa board should be able to find the money to finance the supplies. Further down, it states $14.00 per student to cover, “school supplies, musical instruments, textbooks, and any other costs essential for a student to graduate that were previously provided by parents.”
Than Kidder’s comments puts the icing on the cake, by blaming both the teachers and parents for the situation. She should be talking about the underlying reason of parents not having any power and any real say, and teachers being confined within very narrowed parameters what they can complain about. Otherwise, the teachers would have complained years ago to fixed it, coming up with their own solutions.
On the Ottawa school site, “The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has developed a common list of recommended personal use items for students in grades JK-3 and grades 4-8. This list of supplies is strictly voluntary; parents/guardians are not required to purchase or provide the items listed. As a result, it is a parent/guardian’s choice to send the following items for use by their child for the first day of school in September.
12 pencils
2 erasers (preferably white)
1 metric ruler
1 pair of blunt scissors
2 glue sticks
1 package of coloured pencils
2 packages of 3-hole lined refill paper
6 duotangs
1 package of coloured markers
1 calculator
6 lined notebooks
Parents may also choose to provide:
2 highlighters
2 binders (one for French)
binder dividers”
http://www.bellscornersps.ocdsb.ca/UserFiles/file/School%20Supplies%20Grades%204%20to%205.pdf
With that kind of language, no wonder the board officials are worried that parents may not indeed bother to purchase the items, or just some of them, and leave it with the school.
“It also isn’t just the struggling families who may be asking schools to provide supplies, she says. “I think that a lot of even middle- to upper-class families who have the money to spend on school supplies have decided not to because the ministry said it’s voluntary,” she says. “So we could end up with some schools struggling to survive.”
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/dilemma+paying+school+essentials/5286533/story.html#ixzz1Vn6ZMrUm
So, the situation is, “Here’s the list of supplies but you don’t really need to buy any”.
It makes less and less sense.
However, as long as those who wish to improve PUBLIC education are distracted by these minor items no real progress can be expected.
The educrats win again. And the students, parents and taxpayers lose again.
The educrats must be having a good giggle.
TDSB see Catherine’s comments above mine. Expenses don’t count only teacher quality. She introduced the concept of teacher quality to the discussion. I need to make it clear that teacher quality is only an issue for the corporate reform group.
“TDSB see Catherine’s comments above mine. Expenses don’t count only teacher quality”
Not what I said.
Teacher quality and competence…..or not has the most direct affect on student learning. A bad teacher who doesn’t make use of the tools at his/her disposal or the tools we pay for for our students will fail students.
Money doesn’t buy teacher quality and it doesn’t buy parents an educated child just because they purchase the items of the list.
Posting will be light from me – if you’ve been following the news it was my town devastated by the F3 tornado on Sunday evening. Picking up the pieces here
which takes priority over all else right now.
Faced with what I’m saw as I went door-to-door in a neighbourhood check Sunday and yesterday nothing seems as import – and blogging on education issues way down the list of things to do – a diversion for a while to be sure.
I’m still in shock to be honest. I’ve never experienced anything quite like what I did at 4:56pm on Sunday evening. Devastating.
Tornadoes have a way of interrupting a discussion thread. Thankfully, Catherine’s place suffered only minor damage. What a sad day for Goderich and for Catherine’s neighbours and friends.
Back-to-school spending stories are sprouting like mushrooms. LuAnn LaSalle’s story in The Chronicle Herald (August 23, 2011) is typical of most. It’s entitled “No Slump in Back-to-School Spending” and speaks more to those experiencing financial jitters than to parents or families.
BMO Financial is the source of this news story. About one-third of Canadians, BMO reports, are expected to spend at least $200 on back-to-school purchases this year. The survey was conducted for BMO by Leger Marketing. Meanwhile, the Retail Council of Canada continues to sing a positive tune, saying sales will match last year’s in spite of the economic slowdown.
For the full story:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1259709.html
Most of the stories are appearing in the Business section of newspapers and that may reflect the power of the advertising dollar in the mainstream media.
Back-to-school spending stories are sprouting like mushrooms.
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Of course they are. It’s bandwagon journalism. It’s very similar to the bandwagon griping and whining about school supplies by parents this year. More group-think than a serious situation, in my opinion.
Folks on welfare get an August bonus for the start of school anyway, so where’s the real problem? The truly destitute have the problem addressed by taxpayers and the majority of the rest can afford back to school.
Back to school tips and links for parents in today’s Toronto Star:
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/backtoschool/article/1044945–back-to-school-frugal-parents-share-their-shopping-tips
Indirectly related column here by Moira MacDonald – the fundraising philosophy is very similar to that of the buying Back to School hype.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/26/put-a-lid-on-school-fundraising-to-keep-it-fair-for-all
Horwath actually provides a great example in the column and why the notion of two tier schools continues to be spun out as something to fear when tiers already exist….many tiers.
” Parents of students attending Florence Elementary this year will not have to purchase school supplies.
“The only items that parents will have to supply are schoolbags, lunch bags, a pencil box and indoor sneakers, the school will do the rest,” said principal Michelle Stubbert, “When I approached the staff about this, they were all for it. We fundraised throughout the year and teachers also submitted the money from casual day.”
http://www.capebretonpost.com/Living/2011-08-29/article-2732114/Florence-Elementary-to-provide-school-supplies/1?newsletterid=236&date=2011-08-30-06