District Administration - July 2008 - (Page 27)

care costs in a lagging economy, this increase will be more diﬃcult to face at the beginning of the new school year. Suspending Sales Taxes To provide relief for consumers dealing with increasing back-to-school expenses, 14 state governments have suspended the sales tax on school supplies in July or August, including New York, Michigan and Tennessee, while other states, including Oklahoma and Illinois, are in the process of approving similar measures. Despite its popularity with voters, backto-school sales tax relief can still be vulnerable: Florida recently cut back its sales tax holiday from 10 days to seven to minimize the loss of revenue. And unfortunately, suspending state sales taxes, most of which are between 5 and 8 percent, isn’t enough to help many families aﬀord the supplies they need, and critics characterize the measures as political pandering. “This tax break only makes sense for lawmakers because it allows them to avoid making real reforms,” says Matt Gardner, Texas’ tax policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, about his state’s back-to-school tax holiday. Taking It Back Some districts, however, have been able to resist the trend by shortening their lists, if and when their budgets allow. Patrick McDermott, assistant superintendent for business and ﬁnance of Freeport (Ill.) School District 145, felt that “parents should not be responsible for many of the items” on the growing lists of supplies Keep the Wish List Short Giving parents a laundry list of supplies to buy is lousy public relations and exacerbates economic hardships. I RECENTLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO STOCK a private kindergarten for a home-schooling client. Oﬀ I went to a local outpost of a large teacher supply store chain with a blank check. I bought craft kits, puppets, math manipulatives, balls, logic games, buckets of counters, giant rolls of handwriting and drawing paper, glitter, plus every conceivable form of paint, brush, crayon, sponge or marker I could ﬁnd. I went nuts and ﬁlled two cars full of stuﬀ, sure to make this the best kindergarten on earth. I spent $750! Immediately I wondered, “How can all this gluttony cost so little while schools frequently claim no funds for supplies?” I realize that health insurance premiums, heating oil and gasoline costs have risen in an unprecedented fashion, but schools need supplies. Here are a few suggestions: Cut it out Volume, volume, volume BY GARY S. STAGER It’s ineﬃcient for each student to buy one glue stick when you could have bought in bulk. Spend smarter You don’t need to buy $50 copies of a Perma-Bound book, available for $4 in a well-made trade paperback. Use primary sources like books and online media rather than buying another expensive textbook series. Clip coupons Google Staples and coupon almost any day of the year and ﬁnd a generous discount for materials ordered online or phone. Place multiple orders if necessary to maximize coupon use. Trust teachers Give each teacher a discretionary budget for purchasing classroom materials. Teachers will buy only what they need, when they need it, and can chase sales. Spend wisely Only require the purchase of the items kids absolutely need. Many school supply lists are ﬁlled with gratuitous items like 17 kinds of notebooks. Consume more Don’t buy the math books with required manipulatives if you can’t aﬀord both. Find an alternative or wait until you can aﬀord all of the necessary parts. Recycle It sometimes makes sense to buy cheaper consumable texts that students write in instead of hardbound textbooks, thereby saving paper and dollars. Consume less Collect nonperishable supplies and use them again next year. Use that notebook again until it’s full. I’ll spare you the worksheet lecture. You know better. Gary Stager is senior editor of DA and editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate (www.DistrictAdministration.com/pulse). www.DistrictAdministration.com July 2008 27 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com/pulse http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2008

District Administration - July 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Getting Mobile
School Supplies on a Budget
The Silent Issue
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Management Books
Speaking Out
Calendar of Events
Research Center

District Administration - July 2008