Too many teachers have to dig into their own pockets to get classroom supplies, a fact that has inspired tax-deduction legislation co-sponsored in Congress by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., as well as local fundraising efforts. And to her credit, Gayla Leeper did bring needed attention to the problem in citing it as her reason for quitting as a math teacher at Garden City High School. But couldn’t she have worked harder within the system to access the items she needed, without abandoning her students three months into the school year?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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35 Comments
“But couldn’t she have worked harder within the system to access the items she needed, without abandoning her students three months into the school year?”
The items may simply have not been available. Teachers are frequently forced to dig into their own pockets for school supplies for their students– a completely unacceptable “solution.” Is that what you mean by “work(ing) harder within the system”?
The woman was completely right to do what she did. If she isn’t going to be provided with what she needs to do her job, the fault does not lie with her.
If the system won’t support the teachers, it has no right to complain if they walk out.
I call B.S. on this one. I saw what was available as Substitute Teacher.
Besides, when I was a kid, there wasn’t a lot of supplies available either. For Math all one needed was some pencils and paper.
The article said something about “Flash Cards.” Flash Cards don’t disintegrate at the end of the school year, they can be used for years if not decades. In fact, my mother still has Flash Cards I used when I was a kid.
There were some students when I went to school that couldn’t afford school supplies, so our church and other churches always made sure there were plenty of pencils, papers, kleenix and other items. We also made sure the teacher had chalk, markers and etc.
Talk about a dead-end union, if the teachers “feel” they don’t have enough to teach, then they should use their organizational skills to organize a fund raiser.
Garden City isn’t exactly a third world country. There is more to this story than meets the eye.
The United State & the State of Kansas have poor track records in supporting adequate funding for classrooms. Kansas teachers and Kansas students unfortunately are left in distress with insufficient classroom tools – books, computers, supplies and even furniture. Until voters demand and support legislation to provide adequate funding for classrooms we as a society will reap what we have sow.
And the lack of adequate funding for classrooms has a direct correlation to the state of the Kansas workforce, thus economy.
We need to restructure our priorities and implement some comprehensive planning – unfortunately, we have a lot of legislators in Topeka and Washington (on both sides of the aisle) that have failed to provide the leadership we need.
“Talk about a dead-end union, if the teachers “feel” they don’t have enough to teach, then they should use their organizational skills to organize a fund raiser.”
1. How is the place of the teachers union? Was she even a member? Remember, this is a “right to work” state.
2. Since WHEN is it the responsibility of teachers to raise funds in an outside “fundraiser”?
3. Kansas is correct about one thing. There is more here than meets the eye.
Kansas has no idea what he is babbling about.
2. Since WHEN is it the responsibility of teachers to raise funds in an outside “fundraiser”?
Since when I was a child, teachers acted as part of the community. If they needed help, they asked for it. If they needed something, they organized for it and called on some parents to help.
Part of being a teacher is being “community responsible” and active in the better of education for children.
I do know what I’m talking about, it’s called common sense.
Blaming everyone else on problems that may exist and where one doesn’t try to find solutions but just whines about a problem, then nothing gets fixed.
Teachers are more than just slat boards on a fence, they should be interactive with the community and deeply involved to see things get done and if needed material needs are met.
This reminds me of a woman we had in an office where I worked who wanted to “fix up” the office. She spent her own money on plants, pictures and decorative aspects of the office. One day she had a melt down and stated that no one helped her and she had taken money out of her own pocket to make “her space” look good.
We told her that we had a very strong “coffee fund” that we had built through the years and funds were available if she wanted to “decorate.” Since she only decorated her own office, we weren’t concerned about what she was personally spending, it was her choice. She was new and wanted to change the world, but forgot that there are other people in “her world” that might know something or could have been of help.
Hey, the lowly cowards of the Kansas Legislature will not stand up and do their duty by providing the tax dollars required to educate the children of Kansas. It is sure NOT the duty of a teacher to provide supplies to the children so the teacher can teach. The so called’conservative’ legislators (the christian crazies) refuse to educate our children because they only want the children to be taught their version of the bible.
You know, there is a very simple solution to this problem that NOBODY is addressing. At the end of the year, have the students DONATE what is left of their personal supplies to the school if they want to.
Having a schoolbox of old scissors, crayons, markers…all summer at home is wasteful. Since I buy new supplies for my kids every year, there is no reason not to just hand the old ones over to the school.
Then in a few years, the parents would have to buy very few supplies, or just replenish them as needed.
When I went to school, there was a butcher’s block full of scissors that stayed at school. Now I buy my kids new scissors every year. Protractors and compasses…who uses those things after they come home anyway?
The so called’conservative’ legislators (the christian crazies) refuse to educate our children because they only want the children to be taught their version of the bible.
Posted by: thinkfirst | November 19, 2007 at 06:59 AM
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thinkfirst. Do you? I mean; “think first” before you post?
Doesn’t the state allocate block money to the school districts? They do not specify how much goes for crayons and scissors, salaries, facility maintenance etc… That is for the local school districts and administration. And probably the teachers union in there somewhere.
Or blame the KS Supreme Court. They think they are in charge of determining what is adequate funding.
This “teachers have to dig in their own pocket for supplies” is a complete myth and perpetuated by disgruntled teachers who happen to leave their teaching careers and use this to bad mouth their past job.
There is a flood of supplies. Every poor kid gets a new backpack and school supplies to last them through-out the year from these fund raising efforts done every year.
The schools are on a tight budget? LOL! They are flooded with cash and they know it. There is plenty of supplies.
I know, teachers could work during their summer vacation to buy school supplies for the students. I’m sure the cons. would back that idea.
I pay almost four thousand dollars in property taxes, much of that goes to schools.
Where I live (Goddard) we just passed another school bond which will raise my taxes again.
Soon after school starts here come the little urchins selling their $16.00 candy and their $10.00 popcorn to finance some needed equipment for their school!
Math? What supplies are needed to teach math other than the ones that the students should provide?
I call BS. She quit for some personnal reason.
School supplies? What’s that? Pencils and paper?
Let the school system buy these things in bulk at a savings and then have them available for the students.
I remember having to bring my own pencils and paper to school.
The parents should provide these things, even if it means cancelling cable TV to pay for it.
And the kids would learn some personal responsibility for taking care of their own pencils and paper.
I see the Nanny State supporters want the schools (IE Government and Taxpayers) to provide everything, instead of expecting people to have even a little bit of personal responsibility. Should the teachers have to provide the Kleenex AND wipe the kids noses too?
My God, can’t we expect parents to get pencils and paper for their kids?
Teachers do buy school supplies and the question that begs an answer is WHY does that need exist.
Where is the money spent? Not generalities, specifics. Not blank percent goes to pay teacher’s salaries. Specifics as to who is counted as a teacher? How many don’t have teaching responsibilities, aren’t assigned to a classroom, have nothing to do with children in classrooms?
There is a BIG push for another bond issue for 259 going on right now. We’re told how long it’s been since the last one passed and how every outlying school district has passed bond issues more recently. But they don’t tell us what they spend the current money on.
Let’s not let them pull any wool over our eyes. Let’s demand specifics on how the current funding is spent before we fall for the line of we need more.
I am a strong advocate for public education and would give much more if it ensured our children’s educational opportunities would be improved. I do not have confidence in our current school leaders. Winston Brooks is not well suited either in education or experience to lead Wichita schools. There are many questions that need to be answered.
We should expect a lot better spin on this story from Garden City Schools Public Information Department. How can the Public Information Coordinator justify spending thousands on his salary if the media is getting hold of stories about teachers not having supplies.
http://www.gckschools.com/district.cfm
Teachers aren’t missionaries.
If you want them to stay, give them the tools.
The “truth” is in the middle, on this one.
The teacher, in this case, was grandstanding, at least a little bit.
However, I have long supported a dollar for dollar tax credit for out of pocket teaching expenses.
This is the best “merit pay” we could possibly find.
It takes the “merit” decision out of the hands of the School Administration.
Truly lazy teachers will not go to the trouble.
Dishonest teachers, who abuse the system, will answer to the IRS.
The best, who do sacrifice for their students, will be rewarded.
Who better than the teacher would know the needs of their class?
Almost 30 years ago, My wife receive a grant from the State Arts Commission to be a Poet in the Schools in district 259. Under the contract, she was paid, by the state for 25 hours a week and the district was required to provide a typist and supplies, with the end result that a book was to be printed containing the best stdent poems of the year.Of course the first thing that happened was that the district, citing lack of money, welshed on their contractual obligations to provide the typist and supplies. They still wanted the book, of course.She became quite popular with the schools and students, had one-on-one contact with over 10,000 kids that year, and couldn’t go out in public for years afterward without drawing a crowd of kids. By second term she was working about 100 hours a week (still being paid for 25), buying her own paper- about 2-3 reams a week- and typing nearly 70,000 poems.At the end of the year, I delivered 4 large boxes of poems to the administrator responsible for editing and publishing the book over the summer. She told me to put them on her desk, and I did. That weekend, the cleaning crew threw away a year’s work.If this is a fair example of how administration treats it’s staff, and I’ve seen no dramatic change in 30 years, is it any wonder that teacher are getting difficult to find? That we’re having to recruit them as far afield as The Phillipines? That once hired, the average teacher remains in the classroom for only about 7 years? They deserve better and they know it. You’d go work where your efforts were appreciated, wouldn’t you?
“This “teachers have to dig in their own pocket for supplies” is a complete myth…”Posted by: envo | November 19, 2007 at 08:28 AM
Envo, you’re wrong. I have a nephew who teaches and he comes to Wichita at the end of every summer to buy supplies for his classroom. It’s not a thing he can easily afford, but he’s a teacher that’s dedicated to his kids. I’m sure that’s lost on a lot of posters here who would just as soon kick a teacher in the head.
That said, we’ve got to look for a different solution that the old “just throw money”. I live in one of the nicer bedroom communities just outside of Wichita and while I don’t pay as much property tax as Hank, I pay a lot. And it’s going up this year AGAIN.
Supporting schools on the backs of property owners is self-defeating, and it runs people on fixed incomes out of their homes.
Hank sez:”Soon after school starts here come the little urchins selling their $16.00 candy and their $10.00 popcorn to finance some needed equipment for their school!”
God, I get tired of that. Saturday, there was a constant stream of the little house apes. All had their hands out. Over half weren’t selling anything. They just wanted money.
Last year it got so bad that I put up a “No Solicitors” sign. Wanna guess what the reaction to that was?
“Duh, what’s a solicitor?”
“…grant from the State Arts Commission to be a Poet in the Schools in district 259.”
Looks to me the beef should be with the State Arts Commission not the local Schools or School Board.
The job, although noteworthy, was not the responsibility of the schools to fund or give supplies to.
I call the property tax used for School funds, the 13th month of house payments. The way it is assessed on most homes, it works out to be the same as one monthly payment per year.
Something that Realtors don’t like to talk about.
“If this is a fair example of how administration treats it’s staff, and I’ve seen no dramatic change in 30 years.”
The teachers in my family haven’t seen any change for the better, but many that have made their jobs even more difficult.
I think teachers are among the least appreciated groups of professionals. They should be at the TOP of the list of those we appreciate and support! But their hands are tied in too many ways. They never went into teaching for the money but now the administration is getting in the way of their ability to teach.
We need some BIG changes!
Kans,”The job, although noteworthy, was not the responsibility of the schools to fund or give supplies to.”
The district contracted with the Arts Commission to provide the Artists in Residence program. The supplies and services were their part of that contract.
God, I get tired of that. Saturday, there was a constant stream of the little house apes. All had their hands out. Over half weren’t selling anything. They just wanted money.Last year it got so bad that I put up a “No Solicitors” sign. Wanna guess what the reaction to that was?
“Duh, what’s a solicitor?”
Posted by: XXX | November 19, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Put up one of those “House under Quarantine” signs due to infectious disease.
Of course, your neighbors might stay away as well. :)
We spend about $200 a year out of our own pocket to buy lab supplies for my wifes chemistry class. It’s not just scissors and pencils. Most of the students at her school are too poor to be able to contribute much. Envo is wrong.
XXX–
God, I get tired of that. Saturday, there was a constant stream of the little house apes. All had their hands out.
*****
Dittos, XXX.
I look forward to the day when Blackwater has to go door to door selling cookies and our schools are fully funded . . .
I ask my grandchildren what the “prize” being offered is. If you sell whatever number of whatever they’re going to give you WHAT? Then I tell them I will be happy to make a cash donation AND buy them the prize. I can’t buy from them all! I hate the need of them selling door to door.
Capn, I’ve never heard it put better!
“…the day when Blackwater has to go door to door selling cookies and our schools are fully funded.”
Excellent goal!
Put up one of those “House under Quarantine” signs due to infectious disease.
Of course, your neighbors might stay away as well. :)
Posted by: Kansas | November 19, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Too bad what I did to the Jehovah Witnesses won’t work. I told them I was a Hindu. They backed slowly off my property.Incidently, they showed up Saturday, too.
Maybe I should just fall back on the old neighborhood grouch sign:
“If you don’t know me, get the F*ck off my porch or I’ll kill you!”
Pall,”However, I have long supported a dollar for dollar tax credit for out of pocket teaching expenses.”
In other words, instead of having the district purchase classroom supplies, you want the teachers to lend the money they spend to the government for up to a year at no interest. Surely you could do better than that!
JedNO, not at all.I want the teachers to be made whole for the kids who come to class without their supplies.
The SCHOOL should still pay for things that will be retained by the school.
By the way, the teachers unions give lip service to this plan, every year, but never push it.
I am not out of line here at all.
“We spend about $200 a year out of our own pocket to buy lab supplies for my wifes chemistry class. It’s not just scissors and pencils. Most of the students at her school are too poor to be able to contribute much. Envo is wrong.”
OH PLEASE CRY ME A RIVER!!! In this town there are lots of machineists,mechanics,and aircraft cabinetmakers who would just love to get buy with only spending 200 dollars a year to provide the tools that they need to do their job.My toolbox is full of several thousand dollars worth of tools that NO ONE helped me to pay for.You might say that a teacher has to go to school for 4 years to be able to make a living,well so what, you sure don’t get to be a aircraft mechanic,machineist,etc overnight and I sure as heck don’t get a 3 month vacationn and 2 weeks off for Christmas and another week for Easter each year. So if you are pissing and moaning about 200 dollars out of your pocket,go cry on someone elses sholder,I have no sympathy for you.
TinmanAll of your tools, put together, do not equal a year’s tuition at even a State university.
Furthermore, look at the time spent in school, rather than working.
Beyond that, your tools are YOURS, not the property of the company you work for.
Not true for the supplies that good teachers buy their kids.
I happen to know the teacher in this story. She doesn’t do things rashly. If she quit, it was due to a lack of support from the school and district administration. I use to work for schools too. Having teachers share classroom supplies just doesn’t cut it. The schools want students to do better, but won’t give teachers adequate supplies or support to meet those needs. Teaching math is more than just pencils and paper like it use to be. It’s much more hands-on. It helps keep kids interested! It helps kids see how a particular subject really applies in real life!
To Tinman, do teachers get summer vacation, Christmas break, etc.? Sure. But many good teachers are spending that time in the classroom grading papers and preparing lessons for 20-30 students.
Classrooms DO suffer from lack of supplies. But I guarantee you that if a district’s sports teams need things, money magically appears! I saw it at USD 309. Baseball team wanted lights on the field. Lo and behold tens of thousands of dollars was available! And it wasn’t a budgeted item.
And to those suggesting a fundraiser…no teacher should have to raise funds to supply a classroom. Fundraisers should be for things like new playground equipment.
That’s odd Jason, when I tutored young students in may as a teacher’s assistant, all I used was pencil and paper.
Was i supposed to bring something else?
Grading papers and preparing lessons? Each teach is given at least on hour per day to do such things. Granted, grading papers and preparing teaching lessons might take longer.
However, prepared lessons are supposed to be prepared in advanced and approved, at least they were in the past. Are teachers waiting for the last minute now to prepare lessons?
Grading papers is not hard, I think entry into the records book is harder as it has to be 100 percent accurate. Grading test papers – well some of it can be subjective on the teacher’s part. :)