Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum How To Help Teachers

That's just decoration.
I ain't pitching in for that.

We usually double whatever supplies the teacher requests. Our kid gets their stuff labeled and whatnot. Teacher can use the other supplies any way she wants.

We also don't participate in fund raising in any form or fashion. We asked how much per student they actually get and it wasn't much. We more than doubled that amount. Sometimes triple it.
Donate to the teacher directly to use any way she wants. Caveat. She sends my kid somewhere else when they hand out whatever stupid prizes the kids get so we don't have to deal with that fallout.
It worked for my son and now for my daughter. Everyone is either blissfully ignorant or better off one way or another.

I make a big donation at the courthouse each November.

My wife is a 3rd grade teacher and ill feel the pain yearly!!

My wife is on her 27th year. She has worked in a very impoverished system the entire time. So, yes, we are out tons each year, but we do it because we want the kids to have a good solid foundational experience in their year with her. Just think, most of the kids she teaches get only school meals to eat each day and wear hand me down clothes from their older siblings. Not the children's fault, so we feel they shouldn't suffer at learning because of their homelife. Their only way out of their situation as they get older is to get an education and become something more. I have seen a few of her kids come into first grade not speaking a word of English or having many other obstacles/ problems at home and end up at the top of their graduating classes with full scholarships to college.
That being said, we buy 75% or more on amazon each year, so that is a good way to donate to teachers if someone wishes.

Daughter is a teacher in a county wide behavioral school. Amazon gift cards for the win.

Hmmmmm. My Son has a daughter going into Kindergarten this year. Scottsboro puts out a lengthy supply list. He told me they spent $140 the other day and didn't get everything on the list , had to go back for more.

Gift cards seem to be the answer.

If your teacher is quality a big bottle of Vodka if not Hit'em in the back of the head with a shovel.

Get the kids a bunch of those Cricket.22's two bricks of ammo and a spare 10mm socket for the Dad whose lost his.

While teachers often spend over a $K each year, I know mine did, our Gov't in their appreciation allows them a tax deduction for this, but it is capped a $275 or something like that. My wife had far exceeded that cap before school even started each year. For awhile her school kept the supply fees that were supposed to go to them because the school said it was to pay for the copier costs. My wife was luckier than most in that she has an uncle that worked for the largest maker of copy paper and the workers were allotted some paper for their personal use and her uncle gave his paper to her. Other teachers ended up coming out of their pockets for copier paper. Teaching does not have all the perks people think.

I tell y'all something else that pissed her off to no end. Most of the time the poorest of the kids had parents that busted their asses to see that their kids had the needed supplies. It was a point of pride for many of them, so please don't stereotype all of them. On the other hand, what angered her the most was that it was often the White affluent parents that had the attitude that they paid enough in taxes that they didn't need to worry about buying supplies even when they knew who was going to end up paying for it and don't get her started about the ones that sent the signed Field Trip permission slips but not the cost. Of course, my wife wasn't going to leave any of them behind.

The average (across the entire US) cost of public education for next school year $17,900 per student. There is money for everything.

Of that $17.9k:
Teachers get = ~$10k
Admin gets = ~1k

Maybe we reduce the number of admin and we would have more $ to cover costs:

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Here are the numbers for bama:
For Alabama (2025):

Teachers: 50,046.68
Total educators reported: 58,423.04

That means there are:

Non-teacher educators: 8,376.36

So the statewide ratio is:

Teachers : all other educational staff = 50,047 : 8,376
≈ 5.97 teachers for every 1 non-teacher educator

Every school system in this state has people on the salaried payroll who literally do nothing. They file a form every year and are just there. If those people were weeded out, that money could easily be rolled into supplies and pay raises for the teachers and people who actually do something.

And most are protected by the AEA. The AEA is probably one of the most detrimental organizations to education in the state of Alabama when it comes to getting rid of "dead weight".

What different does that make? The teachers HAVE to do that/those "decorations" and it comes out of their pocket! Is required by the school and has to be done but no funds are provied.

Know because my wife was a teacher for 31 years. She also paid for snacks for kids that could not afford it and several times what she called "backpack meals". This was meals she packed in backpacks for the children to have something to eat over the weekend. Shame was that often the backpacks reeked of smoke. Yea, the parents had money to spend on cigs but not food for their children.

Because I want the money I send to the school to be used for learning. I send money for that, trips and food. I don't want to pay for decorations that are torn down and thrown away.

I'd chip in for things like paper, pens-pencils, actual learnin' implements, or trips for legit learning experiences.

Decorations? No. Sorry. I hate that kids might have a sterile room, and also hate that schools require that but don't give teachers money for it (or other things). But I ain't chippin' in for glitter stars, balloons and other decorations.


As for providing food for needy kids, this is a good organization: https://www.secretmeals.org/

wife ran over to daphne/fairhope today for a piece of furniture for her classroom. it was for the kids to have a place to put their annoying water jugs and i`m thinking a want instead of a need though. not sure how we survived back in my day without a stanely jug of water on standby 24-7. i see her point. if the jugs stay on their desks all day, they`re constantly knocking them over disrupting and drinking/pissing all day.

Wait…so a public school system requires teachers to decorate their rooms and requires they pay for it out of their own pocket? How has this not been reported? Why is this not on every local news channel? What is the punishment if she refuses? What are the guidelines? Does 1 small poster or a single balloon or something qualify as “decorated”? Schools aren’t exactly in a position of power over stuff like this at the moment. Many are already struggling to find teachers as it is so I’m not sure I believe teachers are being “forced” to do this out of their own pocket against their will.

I suspect most school systems provide the basic necessities and then allow (and maybe even encourage) teachers to personalize/decorate their rooms on their own if they want to. I'm guessing it’s really more of a peer pressure thing or not wanting to be the only teacher with a bare classroom, so they all feel the need to outdo one another.

We always give all our teachers Christmas gifts - cash in a card - best gift

My step daughter teaches

Like stated above........The teachers HAVE to do that/those "decorations" and it comes out of their pocket! Is required by the school and has to be done but no funds are provied.

You can believe or not. Report...LOL...to who/whom. Contact a few teachers if you want proof.

I'm on the very outer edge of this topic being a community college instructor. My last batch of classroom supplies was in 2018. I still have the cardboard box with the date on the label. I'm still rationing those supplies and adding to them with things I purchase myself from Amazon and Walmart.

I've spent a lot of $$$ out of pocket on supplies, but not as much as wife who has taught middle and high school for her career.