Posted on 08/24/2011 11:48:18 AM PDT by MichCapCon
All around the state, parents of public school children are engaged in an end-of-summer ritual: scouring the stores for school supplies. Many parents may feel they are required to.
They are wrong.
Under Michigan law, public schools are legally responsible to provide students with all necessary school supplies. Parents are not legally obligated to buy any educational items at all, whether pencils, pens, notebooks, glue, crayons or a litany of other classroom articles.
Public schools’ legal obligation regarding school supplies comes from the state constitution’s Article 8, Section 2, which mandates, “The legislature shall maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools as defined by law.” This language was reviewed by the Michigan Supreme Court in the 1970 case Bond v. Ann Arbor School District, where the court held, “[I]t is clear that books and school supplies are an essential part of a system of free public elementary and secondary schools.” This ruling covers supplies for all students, regardless of family income.
Indeed, the Michigan Department of Education has two documents on its website underscoring the public schools’ responsibilities to provide supplies. The first document, a 14-page position statement last updated in 2006, clearly stipulates, “School districts may not make charges for any required or elective courses such as for: (a) General or registration fees[;] (b) Course fees or materials ticket charges[;] (c) Textbooks and school supplies,” although districts may charge for extracurricular activities. The second document, a 2003 state Department of Education memo sent to every public school district and charter school, provides examples of items that the districts “must provide … free of charge” for required or elective courses, including “[p]encils, paper, crayons, scissors, glue sticks” and “[t]extbooks (regular or supplemental).”
So the law is clear. Yet given some Michigan public school websites, parents could be forgiven for thinking that they’re on the hook for basic school supplies. Consider, for instance, the online shopping list of Waterford School District’s Beaumont Elementary School. The list includes the following language:
Below are generic grade level supply lists for this year. Please refer to the list of the grade level your child will be entering. At the Meet & Greet, your child’s teacher may add an item or two, but the majority of the needed supplies are listed. We hope this helps with the back to school rush!
Every student needs a pair of clean, light-soled gym shoes to be left at school for physical education class. Please make sure they fit! Every student needs a backpack or book bag that will fit into a locker. Backpacks with wheels do not fit! Every student needs an old shirt to use as a “paint shirt” for art class.
Immediately below this language are separate supply lists for grades K-5, presented without further instruction or comment.
Now the school could respond that this Web page satisfies the letter of the law (the principal of the school did not return a phone call). After all, the main page hyperlink bringing readers to the online list refers to a “suggested Back to School Shopping list”; moreover, gym shoes are an item that the state Department of Education has argued (dubiously) that parents can be legally asked to provide. In addition, the school might conceivably have had other, more accurate communications with parents about school supplies.
But the page itself leaves the distinct impression that the lengthy grade-by-grade lists that follow are mandatory. The words “needed supplies” are used to describe the grade-by-grade lists, and the word “needs” appears repeatedly before those lists follow. Further, the fifth-grade list contains several items described as “optional,” reinforcing the impression that the other items are mandatory. In fact, if a parent printed the online list to take to the store, language indicating that the list wasn’t mandatory would be nowhere in sight.
Parents might be similarly confused by the online student supply list for St. Clair High School in East China School District. “Parents and Guardians” of the school’s students are told: “The following pages contain items your student will need upon returning in the fall of 2011. We hope that by providing this list at this time, you and your student will be able to locate these necessary items.”
Parents are also informed, “When gathering or purchasing items for next school year, many items are for use in multiple classes and do not need to be purchased for each specific class" — implying that they do nevertheless need to be purchased for at least one. Four pages of items for 10 school subjects then follow. One of the items is marked “optional,” while another is marked “recommended,” suggesting, as with Beaumont Elementary, that the other listed items are required.
In fairness, the list at one point states, “[P]lease do your best to outfit your student with as many items as possible” — a hint that supply purchases might not be compulsory. And when questioned about the list by an editor for Michigan Capitol Confidential, St. Clair High School Principal Ronald Miller immediately volunteered that the school would freely provide all students with the school supplies they would need — something he believed that the parents of his school’s students were already well aware of.
It is also fair to note that the St. Clair High School main page text hyperlinking to the supply list twice describes the list as “recommended” — but it is equally fair to note that the main page did not do so before Mr. Miller spoke to Michigan Capitol Confidential. Until sometime during the day of Aug. 22, the main page simply titled the list as the “2011-12 Student Supply List.”
True, the main page, before it was altered, did include some ambiguous language — such as describing the list as “recommended/required” — that might indicate that purchasing the supplies was not mandatory. But unfortunately, the phrase “recommended/required” actually suggested the opposite when coupled with the “optional” and “recommended” items on the list itself. If two items were “optional” and “recommended,” then everything else, by implication, was required.
A random scan of other public school websites finds that while some are more explicit about acknowledging that the schools will provide all necessary supplies, others use potentially misleading language like “needs” and “necessary” in supply lists for parents.
Given that the law on this issue is so clear, an important question remains: Why should there be any ambiguity in districts’ website notices to parents about school supplies? In other words, why don’t districts simply state: “Our public school district is legally responsible for all your children’s necessary school supplies. Parents are not required to buy these supplies, though they may do so if they wish”?
Sadly, it may be that some schools are reluctant to publicly commit themselves to such spending when they feel finances are tight. Tellingly, the 2003 State Department of Education memo about free school supplies hinted at a similar concern, observing, “Given recent budget challenges, many local school districts are under pressure.”
Yet districts have entirely legal means to liberate money for classroom supplies, including the privatization of noninstructional services. Districts could also provide less generous salaries and benefits to school employees during collective bargaining negotiations.
Parents are, of course, perfectly free to buy their children’s school supplies as a contribution to their school districts and to their children’s education. But public schools cannot — and should not — require parents to buy school supplies. Given the unequivocal state of the law on this issue, districts should ensure that school personnel are explicit in all their communications with parents that it is the schools, not the parents, who are responsible for outfitting students with the educational supplies that the children need to complete their schoolwork.
They tried that crap on me with my kid exactly once. We were at the "Meet The Teachers Day" and I asked what gave them the legal right to steal the school supplies I'd purchased for my child.
The teacher looked like I'd hit her with a shovel. "We don't consider it stealing." she replied. I said "What else do you call it when you take someone's property away from them and give it to someone else?"
She looked like I'd hit her with a shovel. My son was squirming in his chair saying "Dad, it's no big deal."
"It's a very big deal, son. Stealing is stealing no matter who is doing it or why."
That was the last time I dealt with that crap.
Redistribution is widely taught where I live as well.
Wow...mountains being made of molehills.
Contrary to some of the other posts, I’m glad to provide all that my child needs to get a good education. When buying supplies this year I also bought extras in case some child was without. The kids shouldn’t have to suffer because of parent’s inability to pay or because we as adults disagree with the politcal or tax policy of our districts and states.
Very laudable and charitable. But what makes it great, it that it was your idea, your decision, not one forced upon you. You can see the difference, right?
You are just like me, Cmybaline! I put my child’s name on everything.. lunch box, backpack, pencils, glue sticks, rulers, etc... If it isn’t big enough for a full name then I go with initials.
“... balancing the state budget - which is balanced”
I agree. With my first child, I was more naive.... I just kept sending the stuff in. Time after time after time. Finally, I questioned my son... “I just sent in THREE glue sticks and four pencils. Did you eat them? Where are they?” It was then that he told me the teacher handed them out to another child (an illegal). I had one of those “you got to be kidding me” moments and sent in a not too nice note. At that point, I had literally sent in about forty glue sticks and thirty pencils.
All my years in school, all I had were my two hands. HTH did I survive?
You had a desk that you could leave your stuff in. Some schools require the kids to tote their stuff from place to place.
I already put in my two cents worth on a different thread regarding this subject so I won’t repeat myself except to say NONSENSE to making our families/kids responsible for the irresponsible.
This may be off the subject but it’s something that came to my mind yesterday. We were with our daughter and 2 year old grandson at a city park. Little kids - all colors/races, except we WERE the only white people there.
The little ones played on the playground equipment, hollered, ran, laughed and had fun together. How much longer will it be when these same kids are a few years older and the friendship they exhibited on the playground will no longer be visible? I believe the way things are going now, relations will be a lot different and won’t be pretty - thanks to obozo and types like Maxine Waters.
More mayors like Philadelphia has need to start speaking up and putting an end to the mentality (thanks to sharpton/jackson types) that the blacks don’t have responsibilities in this country. They need only scream “racism” and think everyone will shut up about the behavior. It’s clear the parents or PARENT aren’t going to take the matter seriously so the community has to get the point across some way or other.
Will our younger generations be able to form friendships with different races or will the politicians and race baiters have their way and the division will be irreversible? I think it’s pretty clear what’s in store.
My daughter came home with a list of school supplies which included things like “2 rolls of paper towels, 2 boxes of Kleen-x,” etc. I was incredulous. They weren’t basic supplies like pencils, glue or scissors for her personal use, but supplies for the whole classroom. My response was not polite so I won’t print it. I will say it had an “f” word, “illegal,” “alien” and “taxes” in it. One school she went to the entire school got free breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. The magnet program was there no doubt to make the school’s test scores look better. The major demographic was anchor baby. If they’d have ever redistributed my daughter’s supplies I would have been on them faster than white on rice. Thank God I was able to mostly home school her.
I did have to have a conversation with a gym teacher that thought it was perfectly acceptable to confiscate her backpack just to organize it and be surprised my daughter got practically hysterical and went off on her. “Hey, stupid lady, she lost everything she owned a couple years ago- toys, clothes, pets, etc. Her back pack she can take with her wherever she goes. It’s rather personal to her as the only thing she has with her all the time she’s not going to lose. Might want to think about things before you willy nilly pull your dictatorial, liberal crap. No, being lippy isn’t right, but under the circumstances, what would you expect?” (I was considerably more diplomatic and polite.)
Parents who cannot feed, clothe and otherwise raise their children despite school lunches and food stamps and welfare funds should not be allowed to have children.
I have my son keep his extra supplies in a dad-provided lock-box.
Here is a new one. I thought that the taxpayers were already paying for those things. If not, than what are the tax dollars paying for?
Whether it is required or not, if parents don’t buy supplies usually the teacher buys them out of their pocket. It is a racket though, when I was in school in Arizona everything was furnished until I was in high school.
My kids went to school in New Mexico and we had to buy everything- including one year parents even had to send a package of toilet paper and can of lysol...not joking.
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
Many of those things were things that I recall needing to bring in myself.
The problem is, however, if the school has already been allocated funds to purchase those things for the kids, they have no business asking the parents to buy them as well.
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I think it is a great idea! It is time parents started paying their own children's school tuition ( oops! “bus fee”).
Hopefully, the government school tuition ( oops! “school bus, activities, and supplies” fees) will grow large enough that private alternatives will start making financial sense to enterprising private teachers and tutors.
Hm?....Let's say the government school tuition (oops! “bus and activities fees”) rises to $1,000 or $1,500 a year. At that point it will begin make sense for a truly dedicated and gifted teacher to open a one-room school in her home. Or for an existing day care center to add a few school grades to the services they offer.
>>Contrary to some of the other posts, I’m glad to provide all that my child needs to get a good education<<
So do I. I homeschool. None of that “redistribution” crap.
If someone is in the public school and they don’t have a pencil, let the teacher (who gets a tax break for the school supplies and special discount days to buy them with the money I give her out of my property taxes) provided it out of the cash each one is given for “supplies”.
Small-L libertarian radio talk show host Neal Boortz has been on top of the school supplies confiscation and redistribution issue for many, many years. The oldest article I could quickly find on the topic goes back almost a decade, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we had the full Nealz Nuze archives (his daily show notes) we could find something that goes back two decades.
Neal Boortz - Brainwashing 101
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=15225
Worth reading, as Neal nicely covers the big picture here.
FreedomPoster, can I just vent for one second? On my daughter’s first day of Kindergarten, all of her supplies were confiscated. Now... I had her supplies with her name on it AND a separate bag of supplies for the socialist class. The teacher took both. My little one was so upset. You see, she picked out the pencils herself... a Hello Kitty one, a pretty pink glitter one, a pencil with little doggie prints on it. We’re not done with this... we plan on bringing it up on the first parent teacher conference. (we would sooner but we didn’t want her targeted since she is having somewhat a difficult time being away from home anyways). You can bet one thing: I’m not sending in another thing. Let the other “do good parents” do it for the ones who are already on WIC, free lunches, reduced housing, Casa De Maryland and all that other crap.
Thanks, FreedomPoster, I need a vent!
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