I logged onto Facebook.
That was my first mistake.
Every once in a while, I can’t resist the temptation to check in with far-flung relatives, so I log on. There were three messages waiting for me. I knew what they were without even clicking. Like death and taxes, there is another certainty, albeit much more modern: the unabashed request for people you hardly know to buy stuff they don’t need or want.
MLMs irritate me. Some of them strike a particular chord when people who are anything but masquerade as experts. But mostly, I ignore them.
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Interestingly, though, all three of these messages shared something in common. You know, besides the fact that I haven’t had an actual conversation with the sender in over a decade.
Each request to join their groups, come to their selling party, browse through their catalogue was sent to my attention for a special reason. They wanted to do something nice for teachers.
If you really want to do something nice for teachers, stop asking us to buy things.
If you can’t go that far, don’t ask us to buy things at the start of the year.
No amount of discounts, flash sales, and fake promo bundles (you mark up in order to mark down—I don’t even teach math and I know that) is helpful right now.
Because here’s the truth. My budget, like most teachers’ budgets, has been tugged so tight it looks like someone has run it through the saltwater taffy machine at the state fair.
Why? Because it’s the beginning of the school year.
I don’t ever need body wraps, diet tea, essential oils, or Norwex. I especially don’t need it now when I’m busy buying supplies, books, and food.
Statistics About Teacher Spending
The statistics are well known. CNN, CNBC, pretty much every media outlet runs a story that teachers spend about $500 on their classrooms. The US Department of Education even took the time to weigh in more officially. (You know, now that someone finally showed Betsy where the pencils are.)
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The gist is this: 94% of teachers report spending their own money on their classrooms, slightly more of them being elementary-level teachers than upper grades. The mean amount is $479; the median is $297. At least that is what gets reported.
Interestingly enough, in over a decade of teaching, no one has ever asked me. Or any of my teacher friends. More tellingly, though, is the fact that I don’t know a single teacher who actually bothers to keep an accurate total beyond the $250 tax deduction that most of us meet in the first few months weeks days.
What I’ve Bought
I’ve been back in the classroom for three weeks. Here’s what I’ve purchased so far:
- Scholastic book order: $51 – My students get $50 to spend a month on books determined by popular vote after book talks.
- Used library books: $3.25 – I am a softy, and I’m always willing to buy more.
- Knock-off Play-Doh and Silly Putty: $5.00 – For kids who need fidgets based on their learning plans.
- Kleenex: $11.00 – It’s on the school-supply list but we collect through a particular class period. That class period has a lot of low-income students.
- Wipes for Chromebooks: $11.87 – Ditto the Kleenex.
- Hand sanitizer: $5.00 – Ditto the Kleenex and wipes.
- Boxes of birthday cards: $6 – I wrote them out my first year of teaching and one student whispered to me that it was the first time someone gave her a card. Now I will never not write them out.
- Jolly Ranchers: $22.70 – For birthdays or reading rewards or contests. Yes, I send home a permission slip and an ingredient list.
- Smarties: $4.28 – For the kids’ whose parents give them permission but can’t have Jollies because they have braces.
- Mechanical pencils: $10.90 – For the kids whose parents said no or would prefer non-candy prizes.
- Dry erase markers: $6.78 – We can request blue ones from our supply closet. I prefer multiple colors for writing lessons. And word work and grammar. Dun dun dun!
- Stapler: $5.56 – Mine disappeared over the summer. I put in a request for one but didn’t want to wait for the order to be filled.
Reflecting on Teaching Spending
Could I teach without these things? Sure. Would I want to? Not even a little bit.
There is no denying the research behind having a classroom library. If you want kids to grow up to be readers, you surround them with books. We are fortunate to be in a school that still has a library, and we have a wonderful one at that. But when it comes to reluctant readers, there is no substitute for putting a book directly in their hands.
Are positive incentives a bit controversial? Some years. But give me a smile and a prize basket, and I can move the world. Just ask Archimedes.
Do kids need Kleenex during allergy season? Do they need to be able to actually see what their Chromebook screens say? Do I want them to have hand sanitizer for the moments when they sneeze snot all over their hands because the Dracula Sneeze still hasn’t caught on?
It’s all optional. I know your teacher probably taught uphill both ways in the snow in a one-room school house, so she probably didn’t offer you books to read. You survived with germy hands. You certainly didn’t get any kind of reward for meeting all of your reading goals or having a birthday.
It’s optional, and I’ve opted in.
There will be plenty of other optional expenses throughout the year. More books, more supplies. Markers, both coloring and more dry erase. I will probably replace a few pillows. I might even have to finally replace one of my bookshelves that broke. Again. But the bulk of what I need, I’ve already bought throughout the first decade of my career. Bookcases, art supplies, books, furniture, lamps. Thousands of dollars spent that I will hopefully never need to spend again.
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I do these things because I want to, I need to, and I can.
So forgive me. Money is a little tight this August. It is every August. Maybe you didn’t realize when you sent me that message, asking me to send money up your pyramid scheme, dressed up as a pledge to do something nice for teachers.
I don’t need your Norwex.
I don’t need your essential oils.
I don’t care if they’re full price or on sale.
If you really want to do something nice for teachers, consider sending over a book or maybe a box of tissues. If you can’t do that, then support us with a smile and warm wishes for the start of a new school year.
But please, don’t ask me for more of my money. Not in August. I have better things to buy.
Oh Penny. If only all teachers were like you, and there were a hundred million more. Our world would be a better place. Not only are you clearly SO passionate about instilling a love of literacy, you also deeply care for these little people through your card writing, SEEING them, rewarding them. You are thoughtful of others’ parenting desires in offering the information and choice of food or non-food reward. I can only pray that should I ever reproduce, my offspring will have more teachers like you than not in their lives. Thank you for all you do. I wish you a fruitful new school year, and many many more.
The good news is that I firmly believe there are vastly more amazing teachers than duds. And I’d like to take credit for being thoughtful, but we can’t feed kids without explicit permission.
(I also have to get permission for the kinds of books they are allowed to read from my class library. This year, I got a permission slip back that said, “No magic.” And I was sad.)
20 years ago, I was Drama co-ordinator and our year 7 course had a unit on witches and wizards. I still clearly remember the Exclusive Brethren couple who came to the school and prayed over me.
I worked at a Government school. Religion isn’t taken into account. Why they’d choose to send their child there and then expect me to change the curriculum for them is astounding.
Kids do very well with a bit of magic in their imaginations.
No magic? What kind of miserable person doesn’t want their kid reading Harry Potter?
Religious ones. My dad was a minister (and in a fairly liberal church), and he still had people ask him “what? you let your kids play dungeons & dragons? and video games?”
Um, yes. It’s make believe. But some people truly do believe in magic just as much as they do in God, and they believe that magic is a Devil’s tool. Not even kidding.
I will say, re: HP, that I will totally let my kids read them. But I am concerned about ages, because there’s some heavy things as the books age up. Many of my friends have 6 year olds reading HP, but I’m going to have my eldest wait for sure due to the subject matter.
I try really hard to respect the wishes of all families! Even though I may not agree with them all the time, it isn’t my place to say. So I’ll always ask about books…and treats. 🙂
The first two books and movies are 100% ok for 6 year olds. The third one maybe not (DC1 got about halfway through and then gave up until older, DC2 hasn’t tried it). Plus you can stop after the first two books without feeling like there’s a cliff-hanger.
Your teacher posts always make me cry. I can’t handle the Scholastic orders and some kids getting books each month and some never getting one, and I know you go out of your way to care for your especially low income students year round and in a variety of ways. I ordered a megapack from Scholastic for my kinder’s teacher at the start of this year and asked her to pass them out as needed and let me know when she needs a refill. I picked up some giftcards and gave them to our teachers and told them to get whatever their classroom needs. We used to pay $11K/year for fulltime childcare for one kid and now that they are in public school I feel like a huge line item in our budget has been cleared for generosity instead of stretching us to our max. As many other goals as I have for those funds, I am also trying to take care of those who take care of mine all day and appreciate that I can finally do gifts. I’m not trying to humblebrag 😉 I just wanted you to know that you’ve inspired me to keep all of this in mind at the start of the year and although you are not my children’s teacher, I am always thinking of you when I do this. I’ve been reading for a long time and don’t think I’ve commented but I want to say thank you for writing, and I look forward to reading it every. single. time. Keep at it.
Oh, Marie. I wish there was a way that I could tell you how much this comment means to me. I just can’t. There aren’t words. I will say this: I don’t think I could ever earn enough money from blogging to feel better than I felt reading these words. Priceless! They were exactly what I needed when I needed them. Thank you!
Also, thank you for being an advocate and an ally in your school. You should brag! I know that wasn’t your intent, but the support that you are giving is utterly amazing.
Oh I am so glad! 🙂
My side hustle used to be selling jewelry via a home party plan. The ladies further up the line from me seemed like the popular girls at school – cheerleaders who had beauty, brains, and money. Deep down, I wanted to be like them, but I never could sell like they could. I think, like you, I realized that people really don’t need this stuff, and I always felt guilty peddling over-priced crap that tarnished and broke.
When I discovered minimalism, I quit the jewelry gig and gave all my jewelry and supplies (yes, hundreds of dollars worth!) to the lady who ‘signed me up.’ It felt so good to be free of the stuff that was weighing me down.
It’s not just teachers who don’t need this stuff – thanks for the perspective!
I know this was more of a serious post Penny, but I did laugh there at the end! “I don’t need your norwex. I don’t need your essential oils.” It made me chuckle, especially because we have both in our house right now (although we DO NOT sell it). I am actually somewhat partial to Norwex which isn’t easy to admit…
On to your topic, my parents and one grandfather were all in education. My mom retired after 34 years in elementary school, my Dad retired after about the same amount of time in administration, my stepmother retired after being a deputy superintendent at the school district she had been an administrator in for decades, and my grandfather was a high school principal. I FEEL YOUR PAIN. There are so many costs that teachers have to eat. I saw my mom struggle with trying to get my brother and I ready for a new school year and get her classroom ready (she was a single parent).
My hat is off to you. Teachers are amazing human beings and deserve much more credit for the hard work and effort you put in!
To be frank, I’m always astonished when I read of what American teachers are expected to supply for their classes. Our school supplies all of the teachers’ stationary supplies for free, “Just look at the catalogue and put your order in”… and tissues for the kids – the school nurse has a huge cupboard with hundreds of tissue boxes in it that teachers and kids can go to… if we want posters for the rooms, extra textbooks or other teaching tools our department orders them without batting an eye… we even buy a Chromebook for each of our 2,300 kids that they use for the 6 years they’re with us.
An optional thing I buy – business cards from Vistaprint with stick figure drawings of kids jumping on a trampoline and the words” You did outstandingly well in English today. Ms Frogdancer is jumping for joy!” I hand them out for great results or when kids have surpassed themselves.
Penny, you’re so right. With a little reward like that, you can change the world. I teach adolescents, and they LOVE getting a card.
That is such a clever idea! I may have to borrow it 🙂
Penny, you have such a big heart (to match your keen mind) and those kids are so lucky to have you. All the teachers I know go out of their way to take care of their students, even when it means spending their own money. It’s just a shame that it has to be that way. P.S. We love Jolly Ranchers in our house. They’re not just for kids!
Thanks for the reminder to check donorschoose. I hate that our tax dollars don’t provide for kids. I give to my kids’ schools (our principal also says gift cards are the way to go because with cash through the school they are limited to where they can purchase from), but there are so many schools which have less funding.
Right? Why does the States have so much money for the military but not enough to buy Kleenex for schoolkids?
(Totally rhetorical question…but the priorities of government piss me off.)
Totally with you on this one. I’d say we are on the high end of spending for my wife’s high school classes, but there are no alternatives. I’ll add a pet peeve to the list. I’m tired of having the school send things home for my child to sell the the same group of people all the other kids know. I’d like the school to tell me that they expect my child to bring in a certain amount of money over the course of the year and give me the option to donate that to the school. I don’t need any more cookie dough, chocolate bars, popcorn, or school themed gear. Let me just write a check, please.
In reading that through, I totally sound like an Oldster. But, it is what it is.
It was revelatory when I realized I could just say no to the terrible chocolate bars and just give them a check instead. (If they tell you how much they expect your kids to sell, you can usually go to the website and figure out what small cut of that the school gets, but it’s easier just to call up or email the school and ask.)
The year we lived in a super expensive school district in another state they did ask you suggested, but the suggested donation was $500/kid on top of the suggested/quasi-mandatory school supplies donation of $80, which seems out of reach for a lot of people. (Though that $80 is less than what we spend here on stuff from the school supplies list AND we didn’t have to deal with back to school shopping.)
It makes me so sad that the US doesn’t invest in education and that you end up paying for these things out of your own pocket. But thank you for doing it!
It’s amazing how much of a motivation a small prize can be. I still remember that in grade 2 we had weekly spelling tests, and we would get a sticker if we got 100% on the test. Do you know how much time I spent practicing my spelling? I recruited both of my parents to test me throughout the week. (Sadly, I’m not a great speller…but I probably get everything from my grade 2 spelling tests correct.)