Robert Urbanek
Platinum Member
In 2002 I worked for several months as a part time substitute clerk/typist for a school district.
At one elementary school, I helped unpack several boxes of supplies. One package included several bottles of white-out, which seemed a strange order given that computers and computer printers had apparently replaced typewriters.
As I was unpacking these materials, the principal came on the public address system to inform teachers that they should be sure to order supplies, warning them if they didn’t spend the money, they would lose it. (After all, it’s only taxpayer money.)
At another school, I had to unpack a few boxes of heavyweight paper in assorted colors that were apparently used for various art projects. There was already a large supply of such paper in the storeroom, and I had difficulty finding room for the new supply.
I had recalled several news stories in which teachers said they had to pay for school supplies out of their own pocket. Given the abundance of supplies in this district, I wondered if this teacher “out of pocket” expense was often really a publicity stunt intended to divert public attention from more substantive issues, such as the cost of teacher pensions.
At one elementary school, I helped unpack several boxes of supplies. One package included several bottles of white-out, which seemed a strange order given that computers and computer printers had apparently replaced typewriters.
As I was unpacking these materials, the principal came on the public address system to inform teachers that they should be sure to order supplies, warning them if they didn’t spend the money, they would lose it. (After all, it’s only taxpayer money.)
At another school, I had to unpack a few boxes of heavyweight paper in assorted colors that were apparently used for various art projects. There was already a large supply of such paper in the storeroom, and I had difficulty finding room for the new supply.
I had recalled several news stories in which teachers said they had to pay for school supplies out of their own pocket. Given the abundance of supplies in this district, I wondered if this teacher “out of pocket” expense was often really a publicity stunt intended to divert public attention from more substantive issues, such as the cost of teacher pensions.