The cost of education

I’ve not kept quite regarding my frustration with the schools over the past couple of years.  (shocker, right?)  I believe in public education.  Or I did.  I have my kids in the same school system that I was a part of.  There are some great things about the schools around here…..but I really think the “great things” list is getting shorter and shorter.

One of my beefs right now is the LIST that the teachers send home of the things the kids HAVE TO HAVE.  And some of these lists go beyond ridiculous.  (It’s my opinion) 

Here is the list of things that I have just had to purchase in the past 48 hours.  And oh it’s not over.  This is just the beginning..

Kid	Item	Cost
Pootie	Novel-Things Fall Apart	$11.95
Pootie	Novel-Kite Runner	$16.00
Pootie	Novel-Night	$9.95
Lola	Novel-Baser Five Two	$5.99
Crash	Novel – The Great Gatsby	$15.00
Pootie	WORKBOOK- Vocab Roots D	$16.65
All 3	5 Subject Notebook	$4.99 each – had to buy 6 so $30.00
Pootie	3 sets of 12 tabs/dividers	$12.99
All 3	college ruled filler paper	$3.00
All 3 because this list is too dang long…	dry erase markers, 4-2” binders, 3-1” binders, sketch book, scotch tape, double sided tape, black pens, colored pencils, erasers, rulers, red pens, regular pencils, (WALMART)	$89.00
All 3 the other day before the crowds got crazy	glue sticks (they use the crud out of these things in middle school) 8-1 subject notebooks, colored pencils because we can’t have too many of these…pencil sharpeners,	$33.00
Pootie	WORKBOOK – for German 2	$12.00
Lola	Agenda purchase and LOCKER RENTAL	$7.00
Crash	Agenda purchase and LOCKER RENTAL	$7.00
Pootie	Agenda	$5.00
	Total	$274.65

And I will have more items to purchase tomorrow, because today they had their B day classes….and next quarter there will be more novels and more supplies to purchase. 

Before you start on me about purchasing books….the new thing in language arts classes is ANNONTATING.  That means writing in the books!!!  So guess what I cannot do – REUSE the books!!!  Because they want “CLEAN” books…..So all the books I purchase for Pootie – they’re a ONE USE ONLY BOOK.  Crash cannot use them.  Lola cannot use them- and I really am not even sure if there is a charitable organization that wants annotated books? 

My beef over the notebooks is the teachers want these 5 subject notebooks – ask me how many of those bad boys come home half empty.  It never fails…wasted paper. let’s use all of a one subject notebook, then get another one and so forth. 

And then there is the locker rental.  Really – locker rental.  Average of 800 students, $2.00 a student $1,600.00 just in rentals of lockers that have been there for 12 years.  That’s $19,200.00 in rental income. 

Oh and then I got a form home asking if I intended to send Crash on the 8th grade field trip (no disrespect to my favorite teachers on this one either)  to Charleston, SC.  For a trip that will last about 30 hours, not including travel time.  Ask me how much…go ahead.  Ask me.  $250.00 for 30 hours!!!  REALLY.  NO.  And it’s the end of January. Seriously – don’t ya think it might be a TAD cold for a dinner cruise (Pizza for dinner) and a DJ at the end of January.  And really – how does this tie into the curriculum?  (Again, I swear I love some of these teachers, I just cannot wrap my brain around this!) 

So, free public education – no such thing.