School Shopping List: Pencils, Notebooks and, Oh Yeah, Your Own Toilet Paper

This article makes it sound like something new. I have had to buy baby wipes, paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizer and plastic baggies ever since my kids started school years ago. We have also had to purchase dry erase markers. To top it all off some teachers have the nerve to ask for a specific brand (usually the most expensive). I decided this year that enough was enough. You walk in the room that is overcrowded to begin with and there are boxes lining the wall full of these supplies. I just bought the things my child needed, ie. pencils, crayons, glue and refused to buy the rest. What were they going to do? Not allow my child to attend school?

In the here in Florida I've been asked to send hand sanitizer, glue, copy paper, construction paper, computer mouse, just to name a few things and that does't count the basic supplies for my own kid - paper, pencils, notebooks, etc. Been doing that for 10 years now. Not quite sure what school does with money. The copy paper? I sent two.packs and asked the teacher if she had enough. Here's the kicker - she told me it wasn't even for that school. They were collecting for another school in a different county!

It's that stupid idiot president that we have in office that is trying to fuel his ignorant "Obamacare" no matter what the cost!

I have a 2nd & a 4th grader. This is what was requested, total:

3 large boxes facial tissue
8 glue sticks
2 scissors
2 pkgs 200 count paper
3 bottom pocket folders
5 pocket folders with brads
2 boxes
24 count crayons
2 composition books
4 spiral wide lined books
5 highlighters
2 school boxes (pencil boxes)
48 pencils, sharpened
3 boxes antibacterial hand wipes
1 pkg pencil top erasers
$11 for Scholastic News
4 pack dry-erase markers 2 reams copy paper
1 ruler
6 red pens

I also threw in some bottles of antibacterial lotion, you know they are going to be asking for it in a few months,

It is nothing new all right and we live in an area not hit with many cuts. I am so greatful for the education and environment provided by our local schools that I am happy to send anything on the list. I would never be cheap and short-change these people.

Liz You must live in south Fl - that's the requirement list for here.

This is actually a comment towards Jaguignon. We've been doing this for years! How can you blame it on a President that's been in office for such a short time?

I am so tired of people like you making every article a political rant. Get a grip and start really paying attention to politics if you're going to do nothing but gripe. You can't expect everything to change so quickly. Start reading a newspaper instead of getting all your news on-line.

@ jaguignon who said: "It's that stupid idiot president that we have in office that is trying to fuel his ignorant "Obamacare" no matter what the cost!"

It seems the pot is calling the kettle black here. Too bad stupidity doesn't hurt. We might see and hear less from people like you.

This crazy shopping list began with the PREVIOUS administration. The list from Florida is almost identical to the list for some places in Alabama. We have been dealing with this kind of back to school shenanigans for the last nine or so years.

I agree with you Heather....the taxes are there, certainly not cancelled, yet the money is going where it is needed. The salaries of the teachers are as low as ever, a lot of schools are utilized now as year-round, most states of the "education lottery", yet they are as broke as is possible. The same with law & fire departments, what is going on? It seems like the tax stopped getting paid by citizens. Could it be on all the "administrative" levels? Or just plain mismanagement. I think each state, county, and even the federal level do a major scrutiny of how this tax money is spent. Of course you have to buy what they ask to keep things running smoothly, but my goodness, it is getting out of hand. Hopefully some agency will look into this matter...

I think the school lists are getting out of control..It seems every year its worse and worse..Hand sanitizer, baby wipes, specific color paper lunch bags, specific color composition books, specific color folders, specific brands of items(too bad on that as my kids are taking what I give them since they are made of the same thing with just a different name) , over 130 pencils between 2 kids, $ to pay for calculator to be bought at school and heres a new one for me this year a FLASH DRIVE for my 6th grader..this is just the tip of the school list it goes on and on..what are they going to ask for next year? computers, laptops, Etc...

It would if the "high and mighty" rich would stop cutting the tax base because they don't want to spend the $100 a year extra and their 2nd and 3rd homes. They spend more than that on golfing and getting their nails and hair done.

It's is a sad time when the leaders of this country care more about appeasing their "money bags" than they do about the education and welfare of the majority of their constituants.

First, they cut the budget for the arts. Then for some of the extra curricular activities, and now this. What's next, will we have to provide the desks and chairs?

This is absolutely ridiculous! I am 42 and when we went to school we were asked to bring paper, pencils and crayons - that's IT! Government is sooooo spiraling out of control. The taxes we pay and the things we must provide...no balance whatsoever!!!

Kind regards :(

@ liz: The list for our school used to look like that and worse, but the parents revolted and the system responded, it's amazing. www.explorehoward.com/news/16580/schools-eliminate-activity-fees/

Let me get this straight - you're "not buying supplies for those who don't," but now expecting others to do so for you. "How dare they" indeed - how dare you!

Do you pay for your office supplies? If you work as a nurse, do you buy the bandages and medicines? If you work as a mechanic for a garage that you do not own, do you personally buy the auto parts? If you work at a grocery or retail place do you buy the clothing and items you sell? Do you supply the store with pens and pencils? No why is it that every other career works for the time they are paid, are given the supplies they will need for the job they are doing, but teachers are asked to pay for $1,000 in supplies? Work well into the night and weekend without extra pay, and make phone calls and e-mails on their own time, to parents who in many occasions don't give a crap about their kids or their education?
Just a thought

Teachers spend an average of $2000 of their own money on school supplies and materials per year. We can only claim $250 in taxes and are not reimbursed for any of that money. We feel that it's logical to spend our personal money on books, computer programs, learning tools, etc. rather than paper towels and hand sanitizer. I apologize to parents who find it annoying that we ask them to supply basic things at the beginning of the year. I suppose that since teachers are raising many of the kids in the country that it is a little crazy to expect parents to put forth what little effort it takes to buy basic supplies.

Imagine an office job where you go into your cubicle and there are no staples, pens, pencils, paper, ink, paper clips... and the list goes on. Seriously, this is how it is for teachers - I am one. And for things like tissues? This seems harmless, but my high school students, if they see tissues, manage to go through a box every 2 days. I am not paying for that. It is unfair that teachers have no budget for supplies. I buy all the crayons, markers, poster paper, general office supplies and then get yelled at by brats who can't even bring something to write with about how it is my job to supply them with their every need. It is the parents' job to make sure their children are supplied in their classrooms - end of story. If you want more than rote learning with textbook reading, questions and answers (as most progressive educational thinkers advocate) then that stuff costs money - projects aren't free - and it is not my job to subscribe to 20 magazines just so the kiddies can have pictures to cut out for their collage.