Today was the first day of school for kids in Dallas. I only know this because I’ve become partially financially responsible for a 9-year-old and 13-year-old girl in the last few months… it’s a long story I won’t get into. In any case, we enrolled them in the public schools near our home, and today was their first day.
I had misgivings about putting them in public school, of course. As any reader of this blog knows, I am politically libertarian, which means I don’t think the public school system should exist at all. Even so, I don’t have any problem taking advantage of it - my tax money helps pay for it, after all. My problem with public schools is that they are full of kids that don’t want to be there with parents who have no real investment (financial or otherwise) in the education of their children. This doesn’t apply to all children and parents, of course, but as long as a sizable fraction of the school population is made up of these people, I think it brings down the quality of education. That’s my opinion based on my own experience in the public school system, anyway. I want something better for my kids.
Unfortunately, private schools are prohibitively expensive for most people. If I had been planning for children, I would have started saving for their elementary education early so I could avoid the public school system as much as possible. These two girls came into my life a few months ago, which didn’t allow much time to rearrange my finances in such a way as to fund a private school education. So here we were with two girls who needed to start school and most of our income already spent. Thus, public school was the choice. I knew I would probably have issues with that choice sooner or later, but I was hoping it would be later.
I didn’t get past day one.
The 9-year-old came home from school and explained that the supplies we bought her had been taken from her and distributed to other students. For instance, we bought her four folders as instructed on the school supply list - she came home with one. We bought her several glue sticks - she came home with one, smaller glue stick. All the students were told to stack these items up, and then the teacher went around and redistributed the items. Apparently, their first class was Socialism 101.
Here is the letter we sent to the teacher:
Ms [Teacher],
I would like your take on today’s events regarding school supplies. I have a real issue when my daughter comes home and tells me that she needs more folders and other items - school supplies that I spent hours trying to locate to complete her entire list. I bought her good quality supplies because I understand how rough kids are on their supplies.
I sent [my daughter] to school today with all of the supplies we were told she would need for the school year. She came home with only one of the several folders and only one small glue stick of the several large glue sticks, and I’m not sure what else might be missing. I’m told these were taken from her and then handed out to other students.
I want these items returned. I bought these for [my daughter] - not for other students. If you intend to confiscate any other property from my daughter, I would like notice in advance so we do not send her to school with any such property. If you wish to ask me to donate supplies for other students, please do so in an upfront and honest manner rather than taking property I specifically bought for my daughter.
If these items are not returned, I suppose I have little recourse. However, I certainly will no longer be buying the requested school supplies for the first day of school in any future years.
Thank you for your time.
The original version was a little shorter and more direct, but my other half thought it best to soften the tone slightly. Still, I think it makes the point nicely. I do not want my children taught to sit meekly by while their things are taken from them, or that taking another person’s hard-earned property is ok, or that they are entitled to the fruits of someone else’s labor when they show up unprepared. If one wants something that belongs to someone else, one should have to ask.
If a private school pulled this stunt, I would remove my child from that school and the school would lose out on my money. I could send my child to a school that doesn’t do this, and the problem would be solved. I only wish I could pull my tax dollars from this public school.
If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would think that this was a purposeful attack on the concept of property rights - an effort to turn the children into good little subjects that don’t question their leaders when their earnings are taken and spent on foreign wars, corporate welfare, or ethanol subsidies. I don’t give the school that much credit, though. I think this is likely an unconscious side-effect of the mentality required to work for the public school system. The whole system is based on the idea that everyone pays for the schools, even if you disagree with what they teach, how they teach, or don’t even have kids or use the system. You can’t opt out and fund a school you agree with or choose to send your kids to some other public school. You’re trapped based on where you live, unless you’re fortunate enough to have the financial means to pay for a private school (on top of the taxes you already pay to support the public schools).
Of course an institution based on those ideals wouldn’t have kids ask other kids if they could have or borrow what they needed. If they had to ask, maybe they would get what they needed, and maybe they wouldn’t, but they would learn that voluntary association and trade is the proper way to conduct themselves - the very foundation of a free society and what makes our economy work. Instead they learned the basis of a welfare mentality - don’t worry about providing for yourself, because you won’t even have to suffer the indignity of asking for something. It will be taken from others and given to you.
Apparently plenty of students came to class without the listed supplies - probably the children of other parents who had more experience with the public school system. We won’t make the same mistake again.
In the future, we intend to make sure the girls have enough of an allowance to cover their school supplies with their own money. Then, if they want to, they can give away the supplies they bought. Or, they can say no, and we will back them up if the teacher has a problem with it. Or maybe they will choose to simply not bring the supplies. The point is that it should be their decision - not an automatic thing or some subtle trick played by the school district.
Needless to say, we will be working hard to come up with the money for a private school.
10 responses so far ↓
letschooseschools // August 28, 2008 at 11:19 am
Dear Bill,
You are my man! And to make it even better, you live in Texas.
Please join the fight for school choice in Texas. I live in Austin and have been involved in the Texas school choice movement for twenty (that’s right 20) years. We have made many mistakes during those years, but the biggest mistake is that we haven’t built an effective grassroots movement of parents just like you.
Who is the enemy? The Texas State Teachers Assn., the ACLU, People for the American Way, Texas Assn. of School Boards, Texas Assn. of Principals, etc. I call this the teachers unions or just the Education Blob.
I have started a new grassroots organization this spring called Texans for Educational Options. Please visit my blog http://letschooseschools.com/
We also have a very informative website at http://www.ceoaustin.org. This site has sponsored a private voucher foundation in Austin for many years, but we are changing it to go statewide. If you like golf, we have a charity tournament on Oct. 6.
Please spread the word in Dallas. Help us to get politically organized. It’s obviously not a quick fix for your daughters, but there are 100,000 other kids just like them that are being indoctrinated here in Texas every year.
As a quicker fix, I encourage you to shop for a private school in Dallas at
http://www.greatschools.net/texas/dallas/private/elementary-schools/
There are plenty of schools that are cheaper than Hockaday or Ursaline.
Thank you for your post. Please help us spread the word.
letschooseschools // August 28, 2008 at 11:22 am
One more thing, my name is Bob Schoolfield and I am on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Bill // August 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Thanks Bob! I’ve been looking at the various school choice organizations in Texas over the past week, and I intend to get involved. I will definitely check out the links you provided.
dfull // September 3, 2008 at 7:43 am
I am a public school teacher…and I agree 100%. I WILL NEVER send supplies with my son because teachers have been doing this for years and I can’t stand it. I don’t ask my students to bring in supplies to share. If I need them to bring things in for the entire class I inform them before time and then they are things like empty soda bottles…and that is only if they CAN…it’s not mandatory. You have a choice…bring your supplies and become successful in class OR don’t bring the necessary supplies and fail…it’s simple…you do what you need to do to be successful. NO HAND-OUTS!!
We don’t let them share grades…why should they have to share the very things that make them successful…they won’t share pay checks in the long run.
I’m not sharing my student loan debt…
Elisabeth // September 6, 2008 at 11:50 am
Amen! the first year my kid was in kindergarten in public school, i spent hours looking for spiderman pencils, folders, etc to make his supplies special for him. you can imagine how appalled i was when we arrived the first day and were told to “dump” all the supplies in plastic boxes around the room. supplies were given out by the teacher throughout the year from the bins as needed. One year i tried writing his name in black marker on notebooks i’d bought, but they are clever - they simply stick a label over it and write another kid’s name! Needless to say, now i buy the cheap stuff, and i don’t buy everything on the list! I am also a high school teacher, and my students are on their own for supplies - no bins for me!
Wolfmann // September 6, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Wow, why are all of you complaining over a few dollars worth of supplies that you had to share with other people? Who cares if other student came unprepared or simply don’t care about learning. But how are we going to instill the love, compassion, and respect to all if we are selfish and only care about yourself? And let me guess, all of you who have posted here are Christians, right? Wow, simply amazing. I can’t believe that you have forgotten the Christian doctrine. Oh well, I’ll see you in hell.
Bill // September 6, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Wolfmann, you’ve entirely missed the point. Taking supplies from one kid and giving them to another does not teach kids love, compassion, or respect. It teaches them a welfare state mentality. If you have one kid ask another for something he needs, and the child can give it or not, that is how the child learns the rewards of helping someone he values - or choosing not to help someone he doesn’t value, such as a bully or a kid who repeatedly leeches off others because he just doesn’t care.
letschooseschools // September 9, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Wolfmann,
You may benefit from reading the Bible. There are two concepts there. One is stealing; the other is sharing. Sharing is a choice. Sharing is not a mandate from the government. That is confiscation, a nice word for stealing. The “Robinhood virtue” is no virtue at all. It is stealing, and then “giving” stolen goods to come one else. It’s the “virtue” of Congress.
littlebruiserkate // September 9, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I suspect that teachers at the elementary school level have been doing this for a long time, but the teacher my daughter has now did it in a better way…. she was super specific about the brands she wanted…. only Crayola, only a certain kind of #2 pencil. I suspect that the individuality was sucked out of the school supply list in order to make the supplies more of a “Class supply of pencils” rather than little Tommy or Susie’s personal pencil. I was stubborn on some things and went the dollar store route, and the store was out of other things… but the Hanna Montana stuff I got her I placed in her book bag. It was not turned in to the ‘bin’ and she uses those things in conjunction with her regular supplies. In re: to private school, some schools (like Hockaday, Greenhill, and St. Mark’s) are really wonderful institutions that we are lucky to have in the Metroplex. Not all private schools are created equal. Just because a school is accredited by an agency and uses a ‘curriculum’ does not mean that it meets the standards of public school or exceeds those standards. Many private schools employ teachers who are not certified by the state. State certification is not really easy to obtain, so those of us who hold certifications are less likely to do the types of things that can get our certifications revoked. Be wary. Private school does not always mean a better education. I definitely agree that our public school system is flawed. However, large districts are dealing with a huge population of diverse students with a lot of needs. Dallas ISD has to deal with students who speak other languages, pregnant girls, gangs, a parent population that is drenched in complacency, and a population of kids who stopped giving a ‘you know what’ a long time ago. The percentage of students in DISD who are not in the low socioeconomic bracket is miniscule. This is a tough situation, and it is a situation that did NOT exist in the 70’s when the ‘basics’ were all teachers needed to succeed. Smaller districts, like Community ISD in Nevada, have students who are limited in English, pregnant girls, drug use and drug sales, and parents who are somewhat interested in their children’s education and helping them be successful BUT did not go to college themselves. Many of the families in this district are poor. As a result, this district cannot afford to pay quality teachers what they should be paid. It cannot afford much in the way of technology. I have been in both districts, and I know the situations there… traditional education does not work in non-traditional schools. If you want to see a model of traditional public school that works, go to Highland Park High School. It is a shining example of what could be for all districts if money were no object, if all our students had parents who cared, if all the students knew how to read, write, and speak in English, and if all children were taught to respect their elders. I think you all who have been blogging here have left out a large component of the problem: THE PROBLEM IS THAT SINGLE, HARD WORKING, BROKE mothers are raising their kids the best way they know how… and the kids have no discipline and no respect for themselves or other adults. Without good parents for our students teachers are, excuse the term, screwed. Teachers are there everyday doing the best they can with the kids they get. If the kids come to them ‘broken’- isn’t it unfair to expect the teacher to ‘fix’ them without any help? Your daughter’s teacher was not trying to create an environment that supports a welfare system. She might not have kids, and she might not know how parents feel about providing their kids with cool school supplies. She is thinking about her task at hand and the best way to go about solving the problem. If everyone who is able to do so brings looseleaf paper, what is the problem with putting it all together and sharing it? Think of it as a pot luck. Maybe she should have told you all what she was planning to do, or maybe she should have given you all the option of contributing. However, the economy sucks as you well know, and parents are a lot less likely to purchase something they don’t need just to help someone else out when money is tight like it it. It is awful when a child doesn’t have materials in class, and it is even more awful in elementary school- because everyone knows if you don’t have your stuff it is because your mom could not afford to get it. Perhaps your daughter’s teacher was simply trying to create an environment of equality and also spare poor kids with no supplies some embarrassment. There are always two sides to every story, and I do understand your frustration. I have felt that way before. Maybe you should give the teacher a chance to explain, and understand that many of a teacher’s decisions are not necessarily based on what the fair thing is… they are based more on what is going to be more beneficial to the greater good. Uniform school supply purchases combined together by a teacher and equally distributed amongst her students to create a level playing field…. sounds good to me. Also, teaching your kids that it is all right to stand up to the teacher in circumstances like these is probably not the best approach. It is not a great idea to let your child know you have an issue with the teacher at all. Communicate with her/him and WORK IT OUT. If it were me, I would give you all her stuff back and allow you to distribute it as you see fit. I would also encourage you to make sure her teachers know you feel this way in the future… preferably before the start of school. Good luck!!
Josh // November 4, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Are you kidding me? I’m considering putting my child in public school next year as the tuition at her private school is set to increase to over $10,000/yr. Since this is not tax deductible, it would represent the third largest portion of my income (taxes being #1, and housing #2). Considering I already pay over $8,000/year in property tax, this would make her third grade schooling more expensive overall than my college tuition. It’s frustrating that I have to make this choice. I am quite lucky that the public school in our area is one of the best in Dallas ISD; whatever that’s worth these days.