What has always concerned me is what do the children whose parents can’t afford this financial output for school supplies do? 
From school, we used to get our list, and within a week it seemed that a lot of the supplies had been lost.  One mother and I concluded that somewhere there must be a vast wearhouse bursting at the seems with children’s lost school supplies!

“Bureaucracies like to grow, and they’re very good at it. “

And no one had grown the educational bureaucracy like McGuinty has. 

Where has all of the money gone is right! Perhaps we need to post a Lost and Found bulletin on behalf of Ontario taxpayers?

We know that some of that money went to those Ontario sponsorship type signs that every school has on an outer wall somewhere. At $200+ ea. for every school in the province??  Also, let’s not forget that money went also for each school to have a illuminated signed grounded at the front of their schools - payed for with the taxpayer dollars….or bribe money that the government paid parents for their “engagement” and has every year without proof that it’s actually contributing to better educated children.

Bev,

I don’t know about every school/classroom in the province, but I did learn something interesting last year.  My youngest started JK and we were filling her list along with the other two children.  Her list was as long as the others.  I wondered about why someone so young would need six glue sticks in one year, when she only goes every other day.

This teacher was quite up front by telling us that the students don’t have their ‘own’ supplies.  The supplies we buy go into bins for the whole class to use.  Although not said, I would assume that needy students who cannot contribute are thereby not embarrassed.

However, it does bring into question the validity of the whole process.  I remember (back in the dim mists of time ... ) part of the fun of the first day of school was getting the books and supplies from the teacher.  We would speculate about what the notebooks would look like, colours, etc.  It does seem interesting that even though we are spending ever more on education, we are receiving less in return.

Even though students of more well off families didn’t need the free supplies from the school - it did become the great equalizer.  Like uniforms, if students all have the same supplies, then the competition for having something better/more fashionable is gone.  Parents constantly have to buy new binders, running shoes, etc. that are ‘lost’ every year by their kids. 

I can tell you, that most of those ‘lost’ items end up shoved in the back of a locker, or even dumped in the garbage simply because they aren’t as neat and cool as the others.  Perhaps, like some many of you have noted on other topics on this blog, this was something that we did better 40 years ago than we do now.

Perhaps we should put together a back to school kit of our own that would truly reflect what both student and parent can expect from the school year.  Include a voucher for tutors, a list of definitions of “eduspeak” and a family-size bottle of Tylenol.