pet peeve

I must be over tired and a bit grumpy tonight but .... tomorrow is spirit day, where the kids are all supposed to wear their school t-shirt with the mustang logo on it. I can't afford $30 right now for three t-shirts for the kids, so they won't be able to wear the shirt tomorrow. There is a prize for the class that wears the most spirit shirts. I am frustrated that my kids are going to be penalized because I can't afford to buy them the t-shirts. This is going to be an every Friday event. I don't want my kids to feel out of place but ... there isn't much I can do about it right now until I get a paycheck and even then ... t-shirts are not at the top of my priority list. UGH! I hate money, or the lack thereof! Ok I definitely need to go to bed. Thanks for letting me complain!!!!

Robin

Actually, what this sounds like is the school is trying to make as much money as it can off of the parents (who already pay school taxes to fund the school btw). IE: The school gets a percentage of the profits for every t-shirt with the "spirit logo" sold. Well, it is obviously in the schools best financial interest (if $$$ is the admin's primary concern) to encourage as many children as possible to buy the t-shirt. So, they "reward" the class with the most t-shirts bought (wearing them has little to do with it). That is pathetic and an excellent reason why schools shouldn't be making money off of their students and they shouldn't be requiring their students to be hucksters for the school either (ie all the "fund raising" things these kids have to do nowdays). OK, I'm homeschooling, so I am biased. But this is just another nail in the coffin for me....

Jennifer

Sue - that is what we did in Arizona. The kids would wear the school colors and that counted towards the spirit day. Not here though. I did have the kids wear red shirts today so they would at least look somewhat similar to the other kids. It didn't seem to bother them as much as it bothered me. Probably because I was frustrated that I didn't have the money to buy the shirts.

Kelly - I know what you brother-in-law is talking about. Jacob went on 15 fieldtrips last year costing anywhere from just a couple of dollars to $20 each trip! I signed the kids up for piano lessons, which will cost $80 a month plus the teacher asked for $30 from each boy for books. Soccer here, gulp, cost me $180 to get my YMCA membership and two boys in soccer for a total of 8 games!!! It adds up so quickly, yet you want your kids to be able to try different things. I am working quite a few hours in order to pay for these things and I really do enjoy seeing the kids grow and develop new talents. School just got more costly this year with three kids in school. I can't believe it myself! I realize that a t-shirt is a VERY trivial thing but it goes to the fact that I want to be able to buy the things the kids "need" for school. Oh well ...

Robin

I'm late on reading this..Robin, that stinks!!! What did you end up doing? That really places a burden on the family. I have been really irritated by some of the practices here too...like at the end of the year here, they sent the kids home with books and software packages with a little note on the INSIDE that said that if you didn't want to pay the outrageous sum of money for them that you could send the packets back to school with your child. In the meantime, the children had had them all day and had looked all through them...It really ticked me off.

What happened?

Kris

[SueC]

That seems awfully insensitive of the school to place a burden like that on families--that would definitely add up for families with more than one child. I wonder if the kids could wear a shirt in the school's colors and have that count. They shouldn't make kids feel singled out like that!

[houseelf]

Wow, spirit day wasn't really thought through by the school administrators, was it? It does seem like "public schools" place a lot of financial burdens on families and the kids that don't have the money feel left out.

My brother in law, who is a single father with 3 kids and no child support, has told me horror stories about fees. Some of the expenses he has told me about include latch key kid program fees, 3 day nature camps, science lab fees, sports fees, gym uniforms, book deposits, and on and on. On top of those expenses, add high tops for basketball, $20 a pop dance lessons, toiletries for two pre adolescent girls....It really gets out of hand. Fortunately, my MIL and FIL have helped a lot but all these expenses create crises and guilt in his family. I wonder when we are going to reign all this in? It seems out of hand.

kelly

Robin, how much money does your school receive per child from the government? For most school programs it is several THOUSAND dollars per child per school year. Out of several thousand dollars allocated for your child the school can't manage to afford to pay for the kid for field trips?! That's pretty pathetic and I'd definitely raise a stink about it! What do they do for the parents who simply cannot afford to pay $ for the field trips?

Jennifer

Jennifer - The school did pay for those who absolutely did not have the money to pay for fieldtrips but ... it was very rare. I guess pride gets in the way for me. They would have paid if I made a stink. I just worked more hours and doled it out to the school.

Arizona is ranked 48th (I think) for the amount of money spent per capita on children. That said, I was impressed with the school my kids went to as far as the teachers were concerned and the close knit community.

Robin