Superintendent’s
Chat
Our
Generous Teachers
Recently,
I sent a survey to our teachers regarding their perceptions of the adequacy of
their instructional resources: classroom
budget, supplies, textbooks, paper, equipment, and technology. One of the questions asked was whether or not
the teachers spent their own money to buy classroom supplies. Each teacher who responded said that he or
she did. The next question queried that
if they did spend their own money for the classroom, how much did they spend
annually? A surprising number of the
respondents, about 50%, said that they spent $500 or more each year on their
classrooms.
The
fact that teachers here spend their own money for the kids did not surprise
me. Teachers everywhere do the same
thing. At our Christmas program this
year, Lola Begaye, second grade teacher, obviously went all out to put on a
special program for her class. Those
students performed dances, such as rock and roll and the twist, in beautiful
poodle skirts and cool outfits of that era.
It was also obvious that Mrs. Begaye had made those costumes herself and
had footed the bill. The crowd at that
program went wild, and I watched Mrs. Begaye as she beamed in pride at her
students as they performed. I am sure
that whatever she spent on those fashionable outfits, that this teacher’s love
for her students meant that the personal cost was more than cancelled by the extraordinary
performance her students staged. We have
many teachers in our district who are incredibly generous and giving.
President Bush
signed into law the so called, “Crayola Tax Credit”
in 2002. The educator expense deduction allows teachers and other educators to
deduct $250 for the cost of books, supplies, equipment and software used in the
classroom. Eligible educators include those who work at least 900 hours during
a school year as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide in a
public or private elementary or secondary school. The educator expense deduction is available,
whether or not educators itemize their deductions on Schedule A. Take advantage of it.
According to the
following reference, http://education.families.com/blog/now-thats-a-lot-of-money-teachers-and-non-reimbursed-spending when everything is added up from
Kleenex to prizes and stickers, nationwide teachers spend more than $1,200 on
classroom supplies. This is just
unacceptable. Schools, including Shonto,
need to make certain that staff have what they need to operate successfully in
the classroom. I presented the results
of our survey to the Governing Board. It
was the Boards’ wish that all supervisors provide far more opportunity for
staff for input in a site based budgeting process. I assured the Board that we would provide
staff with the means to have greater involvement in this year’s budgeting cycle.