What Do You Do About School Fundraisers?
Well, first off, I can tell you what I did when my son’s preschool sent home a fundraising packet. They are selling… oh, I don’t know. I threw it out without looking past the intro page.
But this is the season of school fundraisers, at least here. When I came home from work a few nights ago, my spouse met me at the door and asked “Are you mad that I spent $15?”. I chuckled, and then responded that it depended on what he spent it on. He told me that one of the neighbor kids from down the street, the older brother of one of our son’s friends, had come to the door selling popcorn as a fundraiser for his school. And my spouse felt obligated to buy some.
He probably spent $15 on popcorn that comes from the same manufacturer as what you can buy at Aldi (the stuff I bought from a Boy Scout two years ago was) and that doesn’t bother me. And I’m not bothered by my spouse buying the popcorn - I probably would have done the same thing. But I really dislike the fact that the school system is trying to turn our kids into little salespeople. And I hate feeling obligated to buy stuff I don’t want to be neighborly or nice or just to make the kid not feel bad.
So what do you do? When you are approached by a friend’s or neighbor’s kid, or at work, to buy something for a school fundraiser, do you do it? Pass? Does it bother you?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
You can also: Stumble It! Bookmark Submit to Reddit Submit to Tip'd
September 24th, 2008 at 8:04 am
What irks me is when kids from school districts other than ours knock on our door and ask us to support their fundraiser. I’ve learned to ask questions to find out what school they attend, what the proceeds of the fundraiser go to, and what they get as rewards for doing the door-to-door sales.
We actually look forward to one fundraiser each year. The volleyball team from our high school sells discount cards for local businesses. The cards cost $10, which we can easily recover by taking advantage of the free Casey’s Pizza. There are several local businesses that participate in a city of fewer than 5000 people. The discount cards actually provide benefits to the buyers and the participating merchants. I appreciate that much more than over-paying for a sub-par product in the name of “supporting the cause.”
September 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Oh, unfortunately, I would buy a chocolate bar for $2.00, from a child…my weakness, but all that wrapping paper and other “stuff”, I couldn’t abide.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I do not participate unless I either want the item that is being sold or I cannot avoid some sort of related guilt.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:52 am
We have three kids in three different schools (high, middle and elementary). In the last month they have each brought home two fundraisers from their schools.
Each child is involved in an activity - football, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, choir (school, church-2 kids in this one).
So thats triple the fund-raisers we get - everything from pre-cooked food to candles to cds of the choir to postcards to gift wrapping to flags that you mount on your car window.
I told them the choice was buy something for the school or give up presents for Christmas.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am
We have a small, tasteful No Soliciting sign on our front door. It applies to kids selling for fundraisers just as much as it applies to adults selling vacuums. Generally, they heed the sign and don’t even ring the bell. If we’re approached elsewhere (like when we’re working in the yard), we just tell the person we aren’t interested.
As for selling, we have a Kindergartener. We don’t allow her to participate in fundraisers. Not only do we believe it isn’t a child’s job to be out selling, but the items they sell are rarely of quality and always overpriced. It’s not a message we like to promote.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I don’t participate in school fundraising or buy girl scouts cookies either, and do agree that kids should not become little sales people. If the event need money, they should have a fundraising event. I also feel bad that the parents have to sell the girl scouts cookies for their kids.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I hate these things. As another commenter said, I would much rather see the children participate in a fundraising event.
On the other hand I also think there is value in children participating in this type of fundraiser as long as THEY are the ones doing the selling/asking. I think the parents doing the selling robs kids of a good opportunity to teach kids about finance, learn to speak in front of others and practice powers of persuasion. I can think of no occupation where these skills would not be useful.
I do wish the schools would be more particular about the items they choose for this type of fundraising. I think those discount cards another commenter mentioned are a wonderfully terrific idea. Imagine making it a project - approaching businesses to participate, getting them printed, deciding on things like pricing, dividing territories, etc. Wow!
I always buy from my nieces and nephews when approached, and hope that it’s something I can use. The giftwrap, while overpriced, is at least usually really nice giftwrap. I come from a Jewish family and guilt is a huge motivator there, too. And sometimes a neighbor kid, too. I’m a sap. LOL
So, as you can see I’m all over the place on this. I think I’ll pick and choose the fundraisers in which I allow Son to participate, and I foresee me being a part of the PTA and trying to influence the types of fundraisers attempted.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:03 am
The wrapping paper, the popcorn,the candy, the magazines, the candles, the list goes on. Thankfully, I now work in an office with no school aged children and my neighbors kids “missed” me on this go around for their magazine subscription drive.
It’s not much different than the “parties” we get invited to as adults-pampered chef, tupperware, candles, etc.
I’ve bought the magazine subscriptions in the past and have attended those parties. I’m making an effort to just say no this year.
Since I don’t have kids, I get tired of getting “hit up” for these fundraisers to benefit a school or group I have no interest in. I’d rather make a cash donation to a charity I support.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:11 am
I dislike these fundraisers for all the same reasons that everyone else here does, but I also work in education and I’m keenly aware of how much difference these fundraisers make for schools. There are a lot of activities, services & supplies that would have to be scaled back without the funds raised by sending those cute kidlets out to charm/guilt folks into buying what they don’t really want a prices that are way too high.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:32 am
What about the adults who sign up for fundraising walks, runs, etc. and then ask all their co-workers and friends for money.
How will them walking for 60 km cure cancer, and why do I have to pay for it?
And there are so many different charities out there!
Now I only give if I actually know the person, and if I get a tax receipt for it.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I agree with all- so dislike the fundraisers. Our policy is that we send in 1 check as a donation to the school when the first fundraiser arrives. The school gets 100% of the money & I can deduct it all on my tax return- win. win. My son understands that the ‘prizes’ are junk and not worth soliciting our neighbors for. When I get approached by others- and its not something I want or a cause I don’t really support- I just nicely let them know that we budget our charitable giving and we’ve already designated this year’s organizations.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I’ve just published a blog on my site with my comments on this topic, linking back here as the source for the topic. I would have just placed it here, but it was very long.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
As I typically don’t carry cash anymore, I can’t buy anything from these little door-to-door salespeople. That being said though, my 5-year old is now in soon going to be in a position to start joining in the fun. I’m not sure how I’ll manage….
September 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Hilarious - I was just thinking about this topic over the weekend. The neighbor kids are one thing, but relatives are far worse. Both me and my girlfriend have relatives that are totally immersed in whatever their kids are doing. It’s ridiculous - everyone is either a Den-Mother or a Cheer-Mom or a Team-Mother or a Team-Mother-Assistant or a Second-Aid-To-Assistant-Coach or something else. Most of the time I am approached by the parents - not the kids. And since it is family, it usually goes “What do you want to order?” rather than “Would you like to order something?”
I hate it - So far I’ve got nailed for 20.00 dollars worth of junk that I don’t want or need b/c I can’t say no to rude family members. I wish I could just say “Sorry - I’m on a budget. You should probably be on a budget too… As much as I would love a fifteen dollar box of peanuts that taste like dirt, I just can’t justify the expense. Thanks Anyways”
September 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
What I started to do is look carefully at what is being offered. If there isn’t anything that I actually want, but is an organization or event or class I want to support, I might still give the child a donation, to go directly to the event or class, but I don’t actually purchase anything. Usually they only get a portion of the sale price so this just gives them that portion without loading me up with any junk I don’t want. Our town is very small so I usually trust that the donation is legit and feel comfortable giving a couple dollars cash, but in a bigger place it might be trickier, a check to the school system or something.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Luckily our school district long ago benefitted from an ongoing bond measure which home owners pay into. We’ve never had school kids come around, and I am more than happy with paying in a few dollars once a year to a fund I KNOW is used to help kids, their classrooms, and their various extracurricular activities (the measure has very strict language).
The only “kid” solicitors that come around are those that have been hoodwinked by unscrupulous adults into a variety of scams.
I would hope in these days of scant funds that folks would pay attention to the declining availability of money for much of anything in schools, and help figure out a dignified way to get money into the classrooms.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
An added note: not only is there the measure in place, we have a parent run district wide group which accepts and disseminates donations, which are then tax deductible. You can be as specific as you wish as to how the funds are used: a teacher, a project, a sport, whatever.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I make it a policy not to buy anything from any school/cause/home business/whatever. I have 45 immediate coworkers, and an additional 85 that share our building, in addition to 20 school-aged family members and before counting any children I might encounter at church or in the neighborhood. Not only does it begin to add up financially, there’s the problems that come if you buy from one and not another… so I go with a regular “I’m so sorry, that’s not in my budget right now”– to everyone, all the time. Eventually, most people quit asking and my budget is safe.
My exception is girl scout cookies– I was a girl scout as a child, and genuinely love the cookies, for all that they’re not the greatest value. I buy a box or two (depending on budget) from each girl scout in my family each year.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I don’t like being asked to buy overpriced items that I don’t want, but more than that, I dislike being asked to do the selling. When the cheapest item being sold is $15, that is more than I am comfortable asking of my friends/family/coworkers year after year.
I thought I had this problem solved last year when I made it a personal policy to make a donation to the school in lieu of selling, but apparently it’s not going to be so easy. My son is in 1st grade this year, and the school had those kids so hyped up about selling that he was very upset that we weren’t doing it. It’s hard for him to understand that if the school keeps 100% of my generous donation, it’s actually better for them than if they only get to keep a portion of whatever he’s able to sell. Then there’s all the incentive programs for the kids …
“If you sell x many items you get a prize!”
“If your class has 100% participation, they get a popsicle party!”
“The class with the most sales gets a pizza party!”
It just goes on and on.
I am curious if my donations get factored into these things, or if by choosing not to participate, I am responsible for ds’ class not getting the popsicle party.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
25 years ago when the first kid brought home a fundraiser, I said no. I sent a note to school stating that I would not allow my children to pedal their wares door to door to strangers. Period. I also brought my children up, as I was brought up, that it was extrememly impolite to ask people to buy things from you for fundraisers.
If I am asked to buy, I simply state, No thank you - that it is not in my budget.” Or, for younger kids, I’ll say that I do not have money to buy those things. One has to be a little assertive, but also polite.
That being said, I sometimes will buy one package of mint cookies just because they are full of memories!
As I worked for 18 years in schools, I had to get pretty good at saying NO to all the kids and the fundraisers, or I would have easily gone broke!!!
I cannot afford to let it bother me that I do not buy from them, but I do pick my own organizations to donate to on a yearly (budgeted) basis. I just remember that I have to take care of myself financially first, before I can take care of anyone else.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
It is tough! I’m a teacher, so at school, my policy is to buy or donate to the first student who asks. We usually do say yes to neighbors, but I agree with Jenn. I try to give a direct donation to the school rather than buying something I don’t want or need.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
My oldest started Kindergarten this year. They do not sell things at this school, at least assuming they get enough straight donations. As another commenter said, the kids really miss out on great programs if the school does not find additional funds somewhere.
So they ask for donations at the start of the school year. My husband and I discussed it and gave the suggested donation plus enough to cover 2 families who may not be able to do so. I am thrilled to not have to deal with the fundraising junk, be able to help out, know that 100% (instead of 50%) of my money goes directly to the school, and take a tax donation.
I throw away all fundraising materials from my other sons preschool and only buy from our immediate neighbors and my nieces and nephews, and I buy very little.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
We just bought a $2 chocolate candy for a fundraiser from a neighborhood kid this weekend. We didn’t mind doing it at all. I remember when I had to sell chocolates and things for clubs, and organizations that I was in, and always wanted people to buy from me. I also think about how if I had kids, I’d want people to buy from them, if they were selling for a fundraiser.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I thought about it more all day and posted the rest of my rant with a link back to the topic here.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
My dh & I stopped buying from fund raisers years ago. We worked with children through our church & we couldn’t buy from everyone so we just say no. For our own child, we donate cash & buy nothing. I’d much rather give some cash than have to deal with fund raising. Jen
September 24th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Wow, this is a topic that really got people talking!! I will buy if it’s something I want or need. Or if my niece or nephew are selling, I try to buy something. I recently told the little white lie that I had already bought one from someone else when a friend’s son was selling a local discount card. Shame on me!
September 24th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I will buy girl scout cookies from the girl scout. Too many parents where I work will bring in the form and hang it up on the bulletin board. I won’t sign there, but if they bring the daughter in on a day she has off of school (or after school), I’ll definitely buy some from her. Part of the experience was for the girls to practice sales skills, and if it’s obvious the parent is doing all the work, I don’t go for it. (Oh, I did sign up for one on the bulletin board–the mother made the six-year-old write up an introduction. Writing anything is a lot of work for someone that young, and I appreciated the effort.)
September 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I`m amazed that so many people are so against it. I usually buy from kids (although I no longer generally carry cash, which makes it harder) and don`t resent it at all. I really love the chocolate mint meltaways and the wrapping paper. Some of the food ones aren`t kosher so I can`t buy them (i.e. Girl Guide cookies) but I try to do the ones I can. And, hey, my mother won a TV in the annual raffle from the high school about 15 years ago!
September 24th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
It really depends. If there is something I can buy that I could use as a gift in the future, I might participate. I don’t participate something every single time. One of my coworkers has a huge issue when the parent or grandparent brings the child’s fundraising item to work and sells for the child. She refuses to participate as she feels that the child should be selling, not the parent. I guess really it isn’t very fair when the parent is selling the item at work, what if they work at a huge corporation and sell 500 and then the child might win for something he/she didn’t even take part in. That said, one of my coworkers came in on Monday with a book of coupons that costs $15, with a lot of coupons from places that we occasionally frequent, and she was selling it for one of her grandchildren. Since I think we’ll be able to easily get out money’s worth, I decided to participate.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
As a teacher, I get pummeled with these solicitations. I respond with “I’m sorry, but I’m saving for a farm” or “I try to only buy local goods.” The kids seem to respect the fact that I have goals that I’m working towards. That being said, my mother never allowed me to participate in fundraisers as they offended her sense of decorum and manners. To her, it was nothing more than sanctioned begging. Furthermore, she worried about our safety while knocking on doors. When I have children, I will follow her precedent.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
People bought from my now 21-year old son so I donate to all the kids who come to my door. What I don’t do is buy the junk. I give a donation, so I can take it off my taxes and aren’t saddled with the trash they sell. Around here it is sports, as opposed to schools, who come door-to-door. If that’s the price of an active intermural sports league, it’s a small price to pay.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:17 am
This is a tough one! Our school doesn’t sell anything and I’m grateful for that. I don’t usually want what kids are selling; I’m trying to go “green” by reusing wrapping paper, and I can’t be left alone with GS cookies, so I don’t buy those either.
I wish schools were properly funded so this whole thing would go away.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Screw them. You pay your property taxes, and if you rent, your landlord pays it out of your rent. Let them fundraise from the parents if they feel they need extra, or the board can be honest and raise rates. Sending the little brats off to beg the neighbors is not appropriate and is no way to run an institution.
Don’t feel ‘guilty’ for not buying something you don’t want or need. They should feel guilty for making the kids be their beggars.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Me, if I like the charity I donate money instead so they get 100% instead of 10% with the rest going to some corporate monolith. I also vote for more money for education and less for Iraq.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
It depends what they are fundraising for and what they are selling. I was irate that my husband bought boyscout popcorn that was crazily overpriced and we don’t even eat popcorn. Maybe I am mean, but I rarely feel obligated to buy something.
However, I know my son’s private church run preschool is going to do one to get a new playground, this bothers me less knowing how strapped they are for cash and that my taxes aren’t going to the school. I would probably just donate but I know a lot of parent’s wouldn’t give money if they weren’t getting a product in return
September 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
If it bothers you to buy products you don’t like in order to support your neighborhood kids’ fundraising, just give the kids the money and tell them to keep the products. I started doing that with the Girl Scout cookies and discovered I felt even bettter than if I had donated AND taken the cookies that contain all that sugar. I also realized that when I donated and took the cookies I did not want, I felt like a chump every time I saw them in my cupbard. By donating and passing on the products, I avoided all that.
September 25th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I usually don’t participate just because the companies backing the fundraisers seem to get the richest off of these things. The organization gets a tiny percentage, I pay 4 times retail for junk and Fundraiser Company X makes a fortune.
If it is a worthwhile cause I’ll usually just write the organization a check or funnel them money through a car wash or talent show or something.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:04 am
What you do is, sign up with eScrip. You register grocery cards, credit and debit cards and download an autotracker for online purchases and then a portion of what you spend is sent to the school of your choice.
That way you are still helping the schools (and trust me, all the extra’s like field trips etc are not covered in their budgets)by doing your normal shopping and you can happily tell the child selling that you already donate.
I don’t know why more schools don’t jump on this.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Our school chose to stop the fundraisers and instead charge $25.00 per child at the bginning of the year for “fundraiser fee”. While it makes it kinda of tough on the families with multiple children and especially when school supplies have gone up, I was glad to hear no more silly selling. If the parents don’t pay then that child doesn’t get to participate in field trips, or rewards.
Well, they failed to mention that the fee did not include sport fundraisers or band fundraisers or homecoming fundraisers…oh well at least the money goes to a good cause I guess.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Oftentimes, I will make the obligatory purchase from our “little salespeople” because I am related to most who make a sales pitch to us. I really only become irritated when MY children come home with these sales jobs. I feel as if I am being a burden by asking people to purchase a $25 tub of cookie dough (a whopping $5 value, mind you). Why do I feel this way? Probably because I AM being a burden. In a small community, where everyone knows everyone (and all are related in a non-Deliverance way), the same people are “hit-up” for a purchase by several different little salespeople. It seems like the schools want to send their little minions to do the financial jobs they should be doing.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I simply say it is not in my budget. Then when they ask what a budget is I explain it to them, i like to think it is a good way to get them thinking about the importance of money.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I rarely buy anything as a fundraiser, unless it is something i’ll use and is a good deal. I bought a magazine subscription once, and never regretted it.
However, the real problem here is the fact that our schools even NEED to have fundraisers. When the US spends $5 BILLION PER MONTH in Iraq and Afghanistan (numbers from USAToday) and school children have to go door-to-door to raise money for a field trip, you know something is severely messed up.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:47 am
Practice forming these sounds in front of the mirror: n-n-n-n-n-n…o-o-o-o-o-o-o. Put the sounds together and you have it.
I never buy stuff from people who come to the door, doesn’t matter how cute they are. While I agree with eeeeeerin about the outrageousness of a system where our schools have to send kids out begging for funds, I really don’t feel it’s an appropriate strategy. It is unsafe for children to go to strangers’ doors, and schools should not be asking kids to do so.
Some of the things parents are reporting these days are amazing: telling parents to send the kids to school with a load of school supplies and then grabbing all the stuff the kid brings and throwing it into a pool of classroom supplies; demanding that parents pony up $25 for a “fundraising fee”… Hey. My property taxes, which hereabouts mostly go to fund schools, just went up SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS after the assessed valuation of my home DROPPED $15,000. Seems to me that’s quite enough fund-raising.
But speaking of taxes, in our state you can make a tax-deductible donation to a school of your choice. This allows you to put money directly toward the school’s operations without profiting the companies that peddle overpriced junk and without putting kids at risk by turning them into little panhandlers.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
i get hit with a zillion fundraisers in a school year. Mt oldest is a middle schooler and so far we have had a fundraiser for orchestra, one for her gifted program, and one for the whole school starts next week. On top of that, Girl Scouts and dance troupe. My son’s elemenatary school is making an effort to cut out door to door sales. They set up a “capital campaign fund” where money can be donated. They are getting ready to do a walkathon for either money or some water bottle labels can be pledged. Soon boy scout sales start.
We tend to pick and choose ours. I did donate $20 for his campaign fund. On my daughter, she got a few orders for orchestra. Her and her brother wanted an item each and paid with most of it on their own and worked off the debt with extra chores. I tend to participate more with her gifted program fundraisers, they rely heaviliy on donations to run. Our school boards allocates very little to them.
I make an effort to save box top labels, campbell soup labels and other stuff like that to send to the school(as do several relatives)
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
When we signed our 3 year old up for preschool this year we had to sign a statement saying that it is mandatory that we participate in the fundraisers! So you know who’s doing the selling….not the 3 year old! I generally don’t buy things from other people though. Why do I want a sweatshirt from your college…I didn’t go there. $15 for one pie? Too much for me! I do support certain fundraisers such as bake sales, car washes or yard sales. Something were I’m actually getting my money’s worth.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I just give the buy flyer back to the teacher and tell themto go F themselves. School resources is the schools problem not mine.
October 4th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
We had our first fundraiser knock on the door last week. She is one of the absolute poorest students in town. Her father was with her, and that’s refreshing. As a former classroom teacher, I always told my students not to go door-to-door as they didn’t know who they could possibly encounter.
I did look through the catalogs that this student had, and they actually had some decent items! I’m going to call the school and find out who chose the catalogs this year. They even had magazine subscriptions.
For $10 I ordered the 8-issue subscription to All You Magazine. I’ll get my coupons and was able to help the little girl at the same time. They also had Ohio State merchandise that was reasonably priced. I purchased an apron for my sister-in-law and an insulated coffee travel mug for my husband. These are Christmas gifts.
My goal is always to use the items purchased at fundraisers for something I would have been buying anyhow. In this case, I always buy All You at Wal-Mart and the other gifts are for Christmas.
October 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
We have school coupon books covers all the schools. They are $10.00 and they have coupons you can use such as 20% at the Hallmark store. $1.00 off you grocery order.etc.
I don’t like magazine sales persons. A young lady came by and I told her that our neighborhood was posted No Soliciting. Her answer was she had a permit from the BBB and she would solict wherever she wanted. Sure would get my business.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I agree it can be difficult to sell sub-par items at higher prices while not getting much profit in return. Our school uses online fundraising and is seeing a great return from Give2Network.com. It’s much easier to have parents download the toolbar and ask them to do what they do anyways–search and shop online. I think online fundraising where kids and parents don’t have to get their hands dirty or put forth too much effort is the wave of the future.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am
As a teacher, I seem to get up for every fundraiser. If I’m going to buy something, I buy it from the first kid that asks me. For friends’ kids, if there’s nothing I want, I might make a donation to their school. I do buy magazine subscriptions thru the fundraisers–those are usually a good deal and something I’d buy anyway. And I LOVE girl scout cookies! I always buy a bunch of those & freeze some. Even though they are a bit pricey. I know at our school, the fundraiser money goes to pay copying costs. We run a lot of copies, and we aren’t a worksheet school. Not exactly an extra, huh? I know it’s annoying to be hit up for fundraisers all the time, but if you’re aggravated about it, please don’t fuss at the kids. They definitely have no influence over whether their school does fundraising. Honestly, if you want to fuss at someone, it’s probably the school board/superintendent/county commission you need to be talking to. They’re the ones who fund & decide the budget. The schools are trying to make up the difference between what they’re given and what they need.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Glad to hear others are upset with the fundraisers. I just this email to the elementary director in our school district.
I have two children, one is in high-school in a different school district.
Email to elementary director:
I have a kindergartner in your school district and I’d like to just say, I’m am totally overwhelmed with all the various paperwork requesting money/donations in some form or another. I could only imagine what other parents (with more children) go through.
Just today alone, my child brought home 1-regarding donations for a Halloween party, 2-requesting families to a “Family Math Night” pop will be sold for a nominal fee, 3-Skate Party-a portion of admission goes to the school, 4-another (got one last week too) regarding candy bar fundraiser for the Music Booster Club, 5-Papa John Night-a portion will go to the school.
Last week, dress in Sports clothing for .25 on Wed, wear your Pj’s for .25 on Thur, wear a hat for .25 on Fri. Also requested non-perishable items to be brought in this week. I can’t even list all the additional request for money/donations, there are simply way too many to keep track of OR pay/donate. Is this school district that hard up for money or what?
I thought if my child displayed good behavior, I’d send a dollar a day for the Music Booster candy bar sales, so I sent in $1.00 on Thursday and the teacher sent it back with a note stating the candy bars are sold in increments of $5 & $10 because of the packaging. I sent in $5.00 Friday and my child brought home 5 candy bars in a “zip-lock” bag. With as much the schools are begging us for, I’d think they’d be happy with whatever they got. This is all so RIDICULOUS.
Teachers are paid a commission based on attendance (how ludicrous is that). What happen to teaching? There is no reason why elementary through 8th grade need anything more than a general education. What happen to electives, you know those classes that involve a little financing (i.e. wood shop, computers, home economic (which I’ll add does not even include sewing or the basic needs of taking care of a family)) I wouldn’t mind paying extra for some of these classes, but my goodness when your teaching computers to elementary kids – NO, I do not want to help fund that. Kids have plenty of time to learn those kinds of classes in High School. Parents should not have to fund HIGH-TECH education with the fundraiser/donation request. That’s what private schools are for. I believe “FREE PUBLIC” schools need to revise their education plan to include the word FREE EDUCATION, meaning use your imagination.
Instead of teaching these younger kids about computers or other high end classes, why not have a field trip to a homeless shelter and then possibly do a fundraiser. I’d support helping the homeless and at the same time, teach these children the importance of family, sharing, giving, respecting, etc. After all, life isn’t about “how much smarter I am than you” or “how much I can make” or “how much power I’ll have”, it’s about LOVE! Public schools are only deteriorating the “family”.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
So yesterday I have a neighborhood kid (or so he claims) rang my door bell. He asked me if I like baseball and to his surprise, I answered no. I like football. Nonetheless, he proceeded on with his selling routine. Basically, the baseball team that he’s in has won (or lost, does it matter?) and as a reward (or punishment) they are going to Hawaii (we are in california). This is the moment he pulled out a card, that has his name among other identifying items. On the back of this card, couple columns of numbers. The kid begun to ask for my help (to send him to Hawaii) starting at $144! Now I realized what those two columns of numbers are, they are goals ranging from $48 to close to thousand bucks. Needless to say, I was somewhat taken back. Never mind that the kid didn’t even try to tell me what is he selling (a coupon book I think), the idea of giving this much money to send a kid along with his baseball buddies to Hawaii is so beyond me, especially in an economy like we are in.