We give each teacher up to $75 to get reimbursed for classroom and student supplies. They can get reimbursed anytime throughout the school year. They need to fill out a form and attached receipts. It used to be $100 but as fundraising went down so did what we could offer. We make a budget in the beginning of the year and determine how much we may have available. I would say the teacher money does benefit the students. Do the teachers give you receipts? Maybe you can show them this is what they are purchasing and then they can see how it's used in the classroom and benefits the students.
We just raised our back to school to $100, which I think is still ridiculously low. Teachers routinely spend their own money in setting up a classroom. I am sure you could google it and show that number to parents complaining. Our new plan is to take half of the funds leftover at the end of the year and mark as additional funds towards teachers back to school funds for next year. IMO, we can never give them enough! Happy wife, happy home could also be interpreted as happy teacher, happy homeroom.
Some parents are upset that our PTO gives teachers $200 each to start off their classrooms each year. Their argument is that all PTO finds should directly benefit the child, but IMO this $200 allowance does benefit our students.
Does your PTO offer teacher funds for back-to-school, and if so, how much?
