Back to School…What I Take for Granted
It's that time of year. Time for kids to go back to school. At least in my household, there is a great deal of positive anticipation and a little bit of nervousness. At the same time, there is the realization, and to be honest the taking for granted, of the beginning of the year school supplies.
We received the standard emails from the teachers of our two children which included a great deal of information about the start of the school year PLUS the list of the required school supplies. Fortunately, our community club provides a service for each grade level that provides the individual grade level supplies on day one---you just pay them and the supplies are in the classroom when school begins. I've noticed over the last several years it's not necessarily an increase in the listing of needs but the cost associated with those requirements. And as mentioned, I don't worry about it and probably take it for granted.
The cost for just back-to-school supplies, the things that kids are using every day in the classroom including pencils, pens, kleenexes, etc. has now crossed well over $100. And for some families, that's not easy to come up with. And this doesn't include things like clothing and shoes and coats and lunch boxes that are part of back-to-school rituals.
Hello, philanthropy.
How many families need help with this kind of effort? How many families won't talk about it because they're either embarrassed or don't want everyone to know? At our school, the principal as well as both teachers for our children indicated that if a family needed help they could reach out to our school principal. And with our family’s involvement with the community club, I know the community club provides financial support for the principal to utilize in these situations.
It's also important to note that teachers spend their own money to prepare their classrooms, and sometimes to help students who don't have all the things they need to be successful. This is in addition to all of the tax money that we pay for living in the school district.
Philanthropy is moving into public education. Not just in terms of pencils and pens as school supplies for kids and families who can't afford them, but in many cases becoming more sophisticated in overall support of the district or in strategic initiatives. Public education isn't like it used to be---pay your taxes and everything's taken care of for the kids and teachers. And the expenses of just the back-to-school supplies are a good reminder for me and many others of this changing nature.
