Malcolm Thomas, the superintendent of the Escambia County school district on Florida’s Gulf Coast, has put supplies like plastic bags, Kleenex and soap under an “optional” category because “we know that people in our community are hurting,” he said. He also seeks donations from local businesses.
If those efforts don’t bring in enough supplies, it means either his teachers — who start at a salary of $32,500 — usually pay for the supplies themselves, or the district “would probably have to get into cutting personnel if we had to supply absolutely everything,” he said.
[…]
“We don’t expect Wal-Mart cashiers to buy the plastic bags for our groceries, or the mailman to pay for the gas to deliver our mail,” Ms. Cooper said.
Budgets Tight, School Supply Lists Go Beyond Glue Sticks - NYTimes.com
This is getting beyond crazy. This is sad, and it’s the best sign that the Republican “ideals” of lower taxes at the expense of everything else is finally, finally taking its toll where it hurts the most.
What happened to the idea of the social contract, the concept that as a society, it’s the role of those who can afford to provide as much as they can to those who can’t - especially our children and the people whose job it is to teach them to live as adults?
What kind of message does it send, what kind of expectation does it set to my daughters that they’re expected to bring basic supplies to school, beyond the things they need to do their work?
It makes me very, very angry that this new status quo isn’t all over the front page of every news outlet in the country, that parents aren’t outraged, and that someone hasn’t turned to those outraged parents and said, “This is your fault. You put us in this situation when you said, ‘We won’t pay an extra 1% property tax.’”.
This level of American greed disgusts me.
Source: The New York Times
