Teacherzilla

[BaronSamedi]

Yesterday we had a lady try and buy 100+ composition journels. When the cashier was ringing them up (on about #50) the lady told her that they where supposed to be 50 cents each. Cashier called a manager over and told the lady there was a limit to how many would be 50 cents (original price was $1.50). The lady requests to speak to someone "higher up". He goes and gets his superviser. Superviser agrees, says that it is clearly marked on the sign and that, no, she cannot change the price.

There ensued a conversation more fit for a 3yr old then a middle aged woman.

Teacherzilla: But, I am a teacher and you should give them all to me for .50 cents.
Supervisor: Ma'm we cannot do that.
Teacherzilla: (Insert Store Name) DOES NOT SUPPORT TEACHERS!
Supervisor: Is there anything else I can do for you?
Teacherzilla: Fine, I'll just go to Walmart!

Wherein she stormed off, leaving two display boxes with 100+ notebooks to be put back by some poor soul from that department.

[XCashier]

Some teacher she is, if she can't read a clearly written sign!

[fireheart]

What an idiot.

[Seshat]

1. She should have gone to a wholesaler, not a retailer, if she wanted a bulk discount.

2. She should have asked first!


In the state where I grew up, school supplies were paid for by the families, not the school or the teacher.

The teachers for each grade would send out a list of supplies; and along with that list the school would send a supplies-pack order form. If you chose to buy the supplies pack, the P&C (parents' and citizens' club) would buy the accumulated supplies from all the order forms that got sent back from a wholesaler; then assemble the ordered packs for each kid.

It was a lot of work, but it got the kids supplied, and spread the cost of the school supplies across the community.
I'm sure there was some sort of deal for students in genuine need, but I never heard about it. Probably one or more of the churches or community welfare organisations paid for a number of the supplies packs.

[EricKei]

We had a back to school section in the local paper -- Most schools have the parents buy the overwhelming majority of supplies (they put out detailed lists), tho at least one of the private schools make it much easier -- In the Spring, they had each student's parent pay a set fee to cover everything needed for the following school year. No muss, no fuss.

[bainsidhe]

Even our local Wal-Mart has been known to set limits on how many notebooks you can buy for a down-and-dirty price. They tend to start enforcing it when they get people trying to buy entire carts full of nothing but notebooks. Since families come to the store as a one-stop-shop for all their supplies, they'll go somewhere else if all the notebooks are gone, for example. And then there's the resllers...

[mathnerd]

When I was teaching most retailers would waive the limits, or raise them, for teachers, but we did have to prove we were teachers either with a pay stub or a school ID.

The thing about supplies is this: yes, we do ask for parents to buy the stuff, but if you teach in a school like the one I taught in, that's not going to happen. I spent in the neighborhood of $4000.00 each year on basic supplies for my classroom and students. This includes chalk, dry erase markers, photocopies, notebook paper, pencils and other things that are really hard to live without. Granted, if I had to, I could teach with a stick and some dirt, but I shouldn't have to.

[NorthernZel]

I'm a bit confused about the "teachers buy stuff for class in retail" thing. Over here, unless the class needs something extraordinary (like, for instance, a DVD to be shown in class that isn't already in the library), the Municipal Board of Education would buy stationery in bulk and then the school just had to order a delivery from a warehouse.

And even if the school was private, then the school management would make a bulk order from a wholesale seller. Not the single class teacher him/herself.

[bainsidhe]

We have high poverty in our inner-city. I've seen teachers buy basic school supplies for their classrooms because kids don't bring anything to school for them to do schoolwork with. I once had a teacher buy a pile of hats & gloves for her students, because otherwise her students would go without during winter.

[Pixilated]

In my pre-health sciences program, our chemistry teacher went out and bought a pile of second-hand lab coats for the class. We paid a mere $5 for each one. However, since lab coats were mandatory for lab participation, I'm inclined to think it was less a matter of financial aid than it was a matter of, "If I get these for you, I won't have to listen to students still wailing in October that they haven't yet been able to get a lab coat ..."

[Kanalah]

For public schools in OK the teachers usually send out a huge list of stuff for the parents to buy. A typical list for elementary school includes 2 to 3 times what the students actually will use throughout the year and some lists contain the teacher's supplies. One year I had to buy coffee filters for the lounge and a dozen dry erase markers. They also get really specific sometimes (i.e. 5 pocket folders, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 purple)

I'm lucky that my kid's schools buy the supplies for the parents, for $40. One mom who I am friends with on FB was complaining about spending $115 for her son's supplies (not clothing). Many places have you buy extra because some parents don't buy everything or can't afford it. One school district is split down the middle rich/poor, so the kids from the wealthy neighborhood buy twice the supplies.

[MoonCat]

NYS schools have been on the cheap for years. Our old friends the retired teachers had to buy stuff for their classes, and the husband taught in a nicer area (suburban/rural, not rich but with some rather well-off families in that school). The teachers would get $200 apiece from the school system to buy "extra" supplies for the year. It didn't go very far so he'd have to dig into his own pockets for some stuff.

Re: the OP, you'd think a teacher would be able to read the damn signs. Or she just assumed it didn't apply to her! If she wants cheap stuff, she should go to a dollar store. The ones around here don't seem to set a limit on the cheaper school supplies.

[wolfie]

My mother was a teacher. She frequently told me about how, when Woodward's (long-defunct department store chain) had their $1.49 day sale, there would always be large numbers of teachers calling in sick.

Also, she volunteered for the task of cleaning out abandoned lockers at the end of the school year. Routinely there would be large quantities of looseleaf paper, writing instruments, and other supplies. These were much appreciated by the students from less affluent families - and the piles of nearly-new clothing were appreciated by an organization that dealt with the homeless.

[tSubh Dearg]

In Ireland we have 'free' education, which means your kids go to school for free but you have to pay a 'voluntary contribution' towards the schools running costs. You also have to buy your child's uniform, school books, school supplies and in some cases the schools have requested that parents purchase toilet rolls & boxes of tissues as the school can't afford them.

There are government grants for back to school costs but they don't generally cover enough for families on or under the poverty line & they're getting cut each year. They are also talking about brining in book rental schemes but that has only been rolled out in some areas.

[fireheart]

In Ireland we have 'free' education, which means your kids go to school for free but you have to pay a 'voluntary contribution' towards the schools running costs. You also have to buy your child's uniform, school books, school supplies and in some cases the schools have requested that parents purchase toilet rolls & boxes of tissues as the school can't afford them.

I've heard of the tissue box one, my primary school also insisted on it, but for an entirely different reason.
In schools, tissues have 1001 uses and kids are using them constantly for any and every reason. It would cost the school MORE un-needed funds to have to keep buying boxes all the time. If every kid brings in a box of tissues, that tends to last for most of the year.