Figures.
You will note that it was a tax deduction, not a rebate.
You sound like a democrat, insisting that I not only spend money on your kids, but also pay income tax on that money.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry after reading some of these comments from 'teachers'. Lordy, where to begin?
How about considering the product of your efforts folks. I can't find a fast food restaurant where the cashiers know how to make change. Their basic math skills are non-existant. These kids can't add two digit numbers. Is that due to supply problems?
Let's talk about Geography. If you ask kids today where Germany, India, Poland or China are, they're as likely to point to Canada as anywhere else.
I could go on and on, but obviously you folks don't want to hear it. Instead you want to convince me that supplies are the problem, and I'm just a trouble-maker.
Have you folks heard of chalk and chalk-baords? Please explain to me why you can't do math examples on the board. Please explain to me why kids can't take notes on paper they come to school with. Please explain to me why you can't have interclass math bees, spelling bees, geography contests and the like.
Why can't you show kids a map, let them study it and test them on it. Maps are a one-time purchase that could last for a decade or more.
I don't hear any creativity. All I hear is how burdened you are. Frankly, quit! Get out of teaching if this is the extent of your skills. You are unqualified to teach members of my family and I don't want them exposed to your influence if this is any example of your thought processes.
When I was in school, we didn't have exotic teaching tools. We had textbooks, our own pencils and a notebook. Some people had folderz, but not many.
Our teachers taught by using the chalk-board, textbooks and little else.
If we're talking about the sciences, I agree that extended supplies are needed, but that is not the major portion of the class lineup is it.
Under Bush the education budget has been increased dramaticly. The problem isn't the money. The problem is where that money is going. It's well known that only a fraction of education dollars are making their way into the classroom. That isn't the public's fault. It is the administrator's fault.
If you teachers think you are not getting enough of the education dollars into the classroom, then I'd suggest you band together against the administration. Don't come whine to us here because we've had it with people who have dedicated their whole lives to children, but can't find a way to educate them without more more more more more.
Quit the whining and get to work. If your prefession can't get it's act together, and I am convinced it can't, then I think you all should just give up and let the private sector step in and do what you either refuse to do or are unqualified to do.