Comments on: Our Spending Habits and Priorities Are Totally Screwed Up

By: zaci1

zaci1 — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:43:25 +0000

huh sorry for the double post, but i just remembered another awesome money draining technique that is employed at my brother’s high school.
The school actually bought Macs for every classroom and installed Windows on every one of them. Simply brilliant, isn’t it?
If i had kids, being suspicious of any amount of money to give to a school would be very high on my priority list.

By: zaci1

zaci1 — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:36:42 +0000

“.. they value buying pencils for their children”

If the school bought the pencils in bulk, they would cost about 0.2$ per pencil. With 50$? 50/0.2=250 pencils per child per year.

Try using up 20 pencils per month if you don’t know what i mean.

So if they are not buying pencils with the money what then?
Well i can only speak for the schools i went to, and due to my nice parents i didn’t pay a cent for it. It seemed strange to me even as a kid.
Every year new art supplies, even if the old ones are 5/6 full. Notebooks one for each subject most of which will probably be 1/10 full at the end of the year. Textbooks that will only be checked in the beginning of the year and than never required again. Textbooks out of which one passage will be read but will have to be carried around all year long.
Im already hearing all the teachers here, yeah, you are not like that. Whatever. Thats only what my experiences are. 50$ is a huge amount of money for school supplies, not because its a large amount of money, but because regular supplies are actually quite cheap.

By: Mom's Many Projects

Mom's Many Projects — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:24:36 +0000

Firstly, kudos to you for recognizing such an issue even while not having children of your own!

While I think there are two sides to every story (sometimes a district can mismanaged money so much that it hurts schools and requires parents and teachers to pay for more than they should), in this case it appears that the parents care more about what they have than giving children what they need to succeed. There is nothing wrong with wanting things if you can afford them, but put education first! I’d like to see them when they are older and complaining their child can’t hold down a job, comes home for money, or worse that businesses, hospitals, or the country is run by a bunch of ignorant people…imagine that!

Education should be #1 to everyone…even those without children. If anyone thinks it won’t affect them, then they are sadly mistaken! It affects everyone that will depend on someone else in the future. The more educated our children are now, the better our country could be in the future.

As a mother the only thing that irks me about the school lists is that the schools put out a generic list, but the teachers change it all up after school starts to suit their classes. I totally understand the change, but it makes me leery to buy supplies until after I know who the teacher will be and what they will really be able to use so there is no waste.

Great post here! I love the topic and that it creates conversation!

By: carrieoki

carrieoki — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 20:20:22 +0000

I so agree w/ your post. Peoples’ priorities need to change. Am currently involved w/ midterm elections. This is post I left on the “Foreign Policy” website–
It’s very simple. I want my children and grandchildren and the children of the world to go to bed on full stomachs. I want all those children to be able to go to school in the morning. I want all those children to be healthy w/ access to medical care, or have medical care when they are ill. That should be the thrust of our political goals.

By: Mommy Mel

Mommy Mel — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 10:59:32 +0000

I have absolutely no problem with completing the list provided by the teachers. I also ask during the year if they need anything. I also contribute to the after school program for the monthly parties where they celebrate the birthdays. To me it’s a no brainer because my child is there. For 8 hours per day. I want to make sure that they whatever tools they need to do their best in addition to whatever is at home. I also serve on the PTA and know that budget cuts tend to hit education first. I don’t begrudge a teacher’s salary or pension. They worked for it and I’m working on my own. I do abhor waste though and will take issue to that.

By: David/moneycrashers

David/moneycrashers — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:09:54 +0000

Reminds me of a classic bumper sticker I just saw on a car today—

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

By: Briana @ GBR

Briana @ GBR — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 21:32:44 +0000

David I’m with you on this. Priorities are all screwed up. It’s funny; my ex-step-mom is the same way. She just bought a brand new big screen TV, she goes on unnecessary trips to the Bahamas and Miami and wherever else, but she complains when my brother needs extra money since he’s away at college, or when my younger sister, who’s a high school senior this year, needs money for college applications. The vain lifestyle is so alluring to some people, they don’t realize how dumb they sound. But, like you, I’m not sure how to fix it because if you say anything to those people, they’ll try to justify how they feel.

By: Tired

Tired — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:45:25 +0000

Personally I don’t agree that all the expense for school attendance is necessary. The state that I live in never has had enough money, no matter how much more they get. They are top heavy with administrators and considerable waste. They can no longer afford upkeep on the school grounds and want parents to tend the yard, mowing, weeding, etc.

It is the same here, buy supplies and they are put in a community pile. In addition to what you purchase there a lot of community school supply drives.

Give me a break. In addition our students are academically in worse shape than 15 years ago when less money was spent per student.

By: nan

nan — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:08:39 +0000

Is this who I think it is?

By: nan

nan — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:08:21 +0000

That’s sad.