Friday, December 5, 2008

Sorry on a Rant

If a family is already shelling out money to send their child to private school, then they shouldn't be asked to continue to shell out money for other causes throughout the year. We had to buy a lot of supplies for Kindergarten, but half of the list were items for the teacher. What is up with that? The teacher had everyone buy a disposable camera and hands them out for the families to develop the film when they are done. Everytime the class has a party the parents are asked to bring in $$$$. The thanksgiving party was ok because parents could sign up and bring a specific item. I love to bake and so that is fine. But parents are being asked to give 5 bucks so the teacher can buy pizza and gifts for the class for Chirstmas. Hello, but I don't want to give $$$$ so the teacher can buy my daughter a gift. I know teachers are given a low budget to spend on the class and room, but seriously, a few bucks here and there can add up to be quite a lot of bucks. And parents are not welcome to the parties. When I was teaching I bought gifts for the class out of my own pocket for everyone, hint it is a GIFT! And for parties I would do potlucks and invite the parents to be a part of it too. Now that I am on the parent end of things it just rubs the wrong way. But I just have to bite my tongue and be hospitable. I don't want to be one of those b parents who complain about everything. Maybe I will send in the money in all coins. Sorry, just had to get out my feelings. Whew. Feeling better now. I will go do some baking for the weekend now! Yeah for parties!

9 comments:

Shadow eX said...

I don't look forward to being a school parent and spending all that money on supplies and parties. I don't think it is right for the teacher to ask for money... maybe a donation but not require each parent to bring cash. I know there are budget cuts, but that teacher needs to recognize that not everyone has cash to spare... especially on a trivial exercise that could be substituted for something else. Great, I went on a rant... but I recall being that student and asking my parents for money that I knew was hard to come by.

sunshine said...

Good point shadow eX!

maybe strawberry said...

i would be ranting too, especially asking the parents to pay for a gift from the teacher for the child.

Mama of 2 Hapas said...

Just don't buy the teacher a gift this year, and send the money. That should actually save you money, since it's hard to find a gift for the teacher for $5.

tiffany said...

That would get annoying after a while. Is the school not providing supplies for teachers anymore?

Mama Bear said...

HHm........ I wonder if this is happening in the other classrooms too, or just this teacher??? Or other private schools???

I certainly hope that the teacher doesn't tell the kids that the gifts are from her since the parents are the ones giving the $$ for it.

As a parent of a food allergy kid, I'm disturbed that the potlucks are closed to parents. It doesn't sit easy with me and I won't settle with it. She would definetly hear from me about that if my son were in her class.

sunshine said...

I ended up paying the money but in change. I wasn't the only parent who did that as I found out this am.

Mama Bear said...

It would be interesting to see if the teacher says that the gifts are from HER!

JaneReyGar said...

Well, you and I both know that teachers shell out plenty of their own cash for classroom supplies when the SCHOOLS should be providing that. It's not easy for teachers who are paid chump change to have to take the bill on all the classroom activities. That said, I completely agree with you on the gift part. Either the teacher needs to buy the gifts his/herself or think of an alternative besides the kids buying their own gifts! That's lame. She should also invest in a digital camera. She can make a Flickr account (or comparable) where parents can log on an get pictures printed IF THEY WANT. As for the parties, I think it's reasonable for parents to pitch in food or money, but I know it's hard when parents are already paying tuition, so fundraisers? Another thing (sorry, I sympathize with teachers!), instead of putting "teacher supplies" on a mandatory supplies list, we often put a "classroom wish list" together where willing and ABLE parents can CHOOSE to donate certain items or gift cards. There, my spiel is done!