christag;137805 wrote: Thanks Debbieomi this comment makes a lot of sense to me.
There is so much to learn about the whole "public school" process, where the money is and where it goes, etc...I'm not sure why the fundraising thing causes such a problem - meaning it is not the route of all evil but parents sure can get mad about it. I guess it is an easy target.
I think it really helps when the pta can tell you what exactly happens to the money raised by say the giftwrap fundraiser. And just as another thought, so you don't like fundraising and you think it's teaching kids bad horrible things (????) flip it around and purchase the giftwrap for a women's shelter or a church or whatever. That's teaching your kids something good and you are supporting the school. Fundraising isn't my favourite thing, but it a) is a lot easier than trying to get volunteers to run an event and getting people to come to said event. it also raises more money. (sad but true) As well, you don't have to do the prizes, it's optional. maggie
Debbieomi;137783 wrote:
So...should we stop fundraising? Yes, but can we? No, not until we figure out a way to pay for everything our kids need for a quality, well-rounded education and are able to implement it. Until then, we just keep plugging along. We write a check either way, I'm afraid.
Thanks Debbieomi this comment makes a lot of sense to me.
There is so much to learn about the whole "public school" process, where the money is and where it goes, etc...I'm not sure why the fundraising thing causes such a problem - meaning it is not the route of all evil but parents sure can get mad about it. I guess it is an easy target.
Whew! There were opinions flying everywhere. For about half a second, I considered registering and adding my two cents worth.
My thoughts?
Fundraising is a neccessary evil. In our district, each building (pre-K through 8) has one fundraiser per year that "uses" the students. Our PTA/O's are allowed this one time per year also. The building admins are using their money from fundraising for items like math curriculum, field trips, etc. Nothing frivilous. It's not even a huge amount of money compared to the district budget. Our pre-K-3 school makes 10K a year! Our entire district's budget is a bit over 14 million but things like new technology, extra curriculum and field trips are not in that budget. The PTA/O's use their 5-6000 fundraising dollars to help teachers purchase items for the classroom, equipment for the staff workroom, pay for field trip busing, healthy snacks during state testing weeks and we throw in a few fun events to the tune of less than $500.
Fundraising is not the answer. Personally, I think it's up to us to pressure our legislators to pony up. In our district, teacher medical insurance costs us $14,000 per year!!! We have a neighboring district that pays only $1,400 per year, FOR THE SAME EXACT POLICIES!!! WHY? Cause our school MUST purchase insurance through the company that our teachers' union picks. It's one of the screwiest laws I've ever heard of. In what other industry does the employEE get to tell their employER who will provide their insurance? And the employer's hands are tied and completely at the mercy of whatever this company charges!
But I digress....
I am good friends with a fundraiser company rep. Let me share some of his experiences. He has had schools stop using him because they have decided to ask for parent donations. Ask each parent to write a check for so much per student. Two months later, he gets a call from them wanting to do a quick fundraiser because less than 1/4 of the parents participated. Then he has schools that do the parent direct donation, fairy successful for a year or two and then they come back to him because parents complain that they are getting "nothing" in return for their donations. HUH? They want something tangible, I guess.
He also told me that of all the products/companies that he reps for, magazines are the only one not decreasing in sales. That amazes me because after a strong first year with a mag sale, the past two years have not been good. (We are revamping his turn in and prize program portion and giving it one more year.)
My son's 4-5 school began their fundraiser week before last. He came home with stars in his eyes wanting the American Idol karaoke mic. HA! I told him he would be selling to me and dad, so you better pick out a 2 items sold level prize. And then I struggled forever to find even one item that my cheapskate-self would allow my supportive-self to buy. In the end, I made a deal with my son. I will pay him $5 to not sell the fundraiser and I will write a check to his school for $10, which is about 50% more than they would have gotten if I had been able to find even one item anywhere near the value of the price they are charging.
So...should we stop fundraising? Yes, but can we? No, not until we figure out a way to pay for everything our kids need for a quality, well-rounded education and are able to implement it. Until then, we just keep plugging along. We write a check either way, I'm afraid.
