So Much For Publicly Funded Education
Preparing for the new school year is difficult not just for teachers, but also for parents. In addition to buying pencils and notebooks for their own children, the Hawaii Department of Education asks them to buy things for the classroom: basic supplies like paper towels and hand soap.
Even though many teachers already spend money out of pocket for classrooms supplies, Hawaii’s public schools still send out lists of items that parents are responsible for purchasing. Sometimes the lists even prescribe what brands to buy.
The landscape at Jarrett Middle School in Palolo Monday morning was filled with students lugging shopping bags almost as big as them.
“I think for all parents, the first day back to school is stressful,” said Jodi Uehara after dropping off her two children, a sixth and a seventh grader, at Jarrett Monday morning. “You want to your kids to get settled in and feel comfortable, and you want them to fit in. And buying school supplies is a huge event in itself.”
Parents like Uehara can spend as much as $100 on school supplies each year.
Divide that expense by half, and she spends about $50 per child. Multiply that amount by 170,000 students in the public school system, and the Department of Education saves about $8.5 million each year by shifting some of the supply burden to parents.
Uehara accepts the expense as part of being a parent. Shopping for school supplies can even help build camaraderie with other families, she said.
She is just happy that Furlough Fridays ended for her kids, and empathizes with teachers’ loss of preparation time this year.
