Tag: school supplies

DollarDays Launches Affordable Backpacks for Nonprofits, Schools

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DollarDays, a strategic platform for charities, nonprofits and other betterment organizations to purchase wholesale goods, today unveiled its Forward™ collection of backpacks. The company developed this exclusive, retail-ready line to better assist these groups with fulfilling their outreach projects and other missions.

“Every child deserves the right tools to support their educational journey,” explained Shelly Chaney, DollarDays’ Vice President of Merchandising and Design. “There’s no reason to sacrifice quality for price when it comes to something kids use over and over, like backpacks. That’s why we’ve invested in our own line – to give our customers a premium option at an affordable price.”

Forward™ backpacks start at $2.50 USD per bag and come in three sizes – 15”, 17” and 19” – making them ideal for children from preschool through college. Other features include expanded eight- and 12-color assortments with traditional, neutral and trending shades; a full-width, zippered front pocket; reinforced strap-to-bag seams to aid in preventing rips, tears or other damage; and contoured, padded shoulder straps with breathable mesh backs.

The announcement of the Forward™ line comes almost one year to the date after DollarDays rolled out its first private-label venture, the Big Box™ brand. Big Box™, which encompasses a broad range of basic school supplies and pre-filled school supply kits, outperformed expectations in their first year, and Forward™ is following suit; during the collection’s six-week pre-ordering period, customers purchased nearly 45,000 Forward™ backpacks, or approximately 1,700 cases.

In line with its corporate mission, DollarDays will provide all customers who purchase Forward™ backpacks with a 5% merchandise credit to be donated to the school, nonprofit or charity of their choice. Additionally, all Forward™ backpacks can ship same-day from the company’s warehouse in Dallas, Texas, to customers located in the contiguous United States, depending on the time at which the order is placed.

To learn more about DollarDays’ Forward™ backpacks, visit dollardays.com/forward.

About DollarDays
Founded in 2001, DollarDays is the leading supplier of wholesale goods for nonprofits, businesses and betterment organizations. By sourcing affordable products, backed by exceptional service and meaningful community engagement, we strive to inspire and empower our customers to accomplish their missions to improve the lives of people around the world. Recognized as the City of Phoenix Mayor’s Office “2018 Product Exporter of the Year” and Internet Retailer Magazine’s “B2B E-commerce Marketer of the Year” for 2016 and 2017, DollarDays is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.dollardays.com.

Back to School Bucks Seasonal Trends, Becomes Big Business

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As national uproar spreads around teacher pay and educational funding, questions are also being raised around whether schools are increasingly underfunded for classroom supplies. Class supply lists continue to grow and are becoming more costly for families nationwide. DollarDays, a premier supplier of school supplies, recently released a report that up to 85% of supplies were being purchased outside of the traditional month of August, indicating more teachers and parents are making purchases throughout the year for items normally supported with tax dollars.

“The average class list costs parents more than $400 per year per child,” explains Shelly Chaney, Vice President and General Manager of DollarDays. “[W]here we used to see back to school as a seasonal event, we are now seeing individuals making purchases throughout the year, often to offset the needs in classrooms.” […]

When it comes to school supplies, DollarDays is one of the most popular back-to-school destinations [online]. [The company currently] offers over 75,000 [bulk] products sold at wholesale [or below-wholesale] prices. [A]fter 17 years in the industry, [DollarDays] truly [knows] how to source and support the products that ensure retailers keep high margins without being concerned with warehousing product.

“Stocking the shelves with school supplies is about finding the right mix of offerings,” says Chaney. “We can partner with retailers to determine the right category mix, select the correct packaging options and determine whether planograms are the right methodology for their space, all while offsetting costs. This level of partnership ensures our customers have the right solution to sell these products and meet the needs of their own customers.”

As more schools face economic challenges and many districts transition to year-round curriculums, it’s no doubt […] retailers will continue to see the back-to-school industry break out of the traditional seasonal time period. In fact, it may be just a matter of time before school supplies become routine items for any retailer’s product mix.

Original article here: https://independentretailer.com/2018/05/08/back-to-school-bucks-seasonal-trends-and-becomes-big-business/

Teacher Spend Hundreds out of Pocket on School Supplies

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Parents aren’t the only ones who spend big on back-to-school supplies. Thousands of teachers around the United States offset their school supply budgets by forking over close to $600 of their own money just for the most basic of supplies. Some of the most sought-after items include staples, copy paper, holiday decorations and colored pencils, but, for many educators, the list has grown to hygiene items and clothing. It’s these day-to-day necessities that leave teachers scrambling to ensure they have the items their classrooms need to run smoothly.

Two-thirds of all classroom supplies are purchased by teachers, and more than 91 percent of teachers offset the lack of basic supplies for students that fall under the poverty line. The costs quickly add up, and out-of-pocket teaching supplies can equal close to $1 billion every year.

The Impact of a Well-stocked Classroom

Sadly, without these expenditures, many classrooms would lack the resources children need to learn or to participate in creative projects, and with the majority of public school students living under the poverty line, many parents simply can’t afford to pay for supplies.

When teachers are able to provide their impoverished students with adequate supplies, their learning experience is transformed – their limitations become opportunities and equality in the classroom environment.

Finding a Solution

The year 2018 has carried a continuous debate around education policy, school choice, vouchers and teacher training. Budgets are spread further and tax dollars are intensely debated. What we must remember is that students need tools to learn, and it’s incumbent on parents, school districts and policymakers to fight for these resources. Parents must urge their local school districts and state legislatures to adequately fund education, including instituting programs that outfit teachers and schools with the supplies students need in order to learn. Teachers must remain vocal about the supplies they need the most and advocate for the districts that have the greatest needs. We should not let a lack of basic supplies keep them from doing their jobs. It’s time to support our teachers, give them the tools they need and ensure that all classrooms are well stocked throughout the school year. Our children deserve better, and understanding there’s a need helps to create conversations about solutions.

It’s our hope that every classroom will soon have access to unlimited supplies pencils, pens, highlighters, chalk erasers, crayons, STEM toys, books and highlighters – simply, tools that help our children learn. The basics can seem so basic in the right light.

School Supply Costs Continue to Rise

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From backpacks to binders, to USB drives and glue sticks, the rising cost of school supplies is putting a definite pinch on the average families’ budget. When families are simply unable to choose between the grocery bill and the school supply list, it’s our children that suffer, often creating a class system in our public schools.

Experts say school districts have considerably less funds for supplies, so they are forced to push the costs onto families or even more likely the teachers. Basic classroom staples like markers, construction paper, cleaning supplies, tissues, copy paper and printer ink become limited and must be stretched throughout the year. While the requests may seem like mild annoyances for a middle-class family, it can feel like an insurmountable burden for poor families, who already struggle just to outfit their own kids for school. Many parents have to make the difficult choice between basic grooming and hygiene necessities or back to school supplies, prior to the school year starting. It can just be too much of a stretch for them.

  • This year the supply list for an elementary school student costs about $650, up from an inflation-adjusted $375 in 2006,according to the annual Huntington Bank’s Backpack Index.
  • A middle-school student might run $1,000; up from $525. And sending a fully equipped high-schooler off to class can cost nearly $1,500 — compared to $800 just 10 years ago.
  • All together that’s an average of about $1,000 — nearly the same as the average U.S. monthly mortgage payment.

If there is more than one child in the household those costs can multiply and often begin to feel overwhelming. In fact, a recent research poll done by the nonprofit Junior Achievement, states 60 percent of U.S. parents struggle to pay for their school supplies.

Buying in Bulk Saves Throughout the Year

Buying school supplies in bulk is one of the best ways to save money, especially over the long run. If you’re looking for ways to get more “bang” for your buck as well as keep a nice hefty stock of items you use every single day in your classroom or in your student’s bag, then shopping bulk wholesale is the only way to go.

Check out these amazing products that you can use all season long.

The Organizations That Help

As the need for school supplies increase nationally, more organizations are attempting to step up to fill the need. Here are a few partners that currently support back to school and school supply shortages:

Teachers Create Our Future

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All of us have bragged about the great teachers we’ve had who have helped us along in life, but not every teacher is wonderful. Some teachers just don’t strive to improve and help kids.

According to About Education, ineffective teachers share similar characteristics:

  • They lack the ability to manage their classrooms. If they can’t control the students in their classrooms, they won’t be able to teach them effectively.
  • [They] lack real content knowledge. They will quickly lose credibility with their students if they do not know what they are teaching, making them instantly ineffective.
  • [They] lack motivation. [These] teachers do not challenge or stay engaged with their students.
  • [They] lack organizational skills, [making them] unproductive and overwhelmed.
  • [They possess] poor people skills, which affects students, parents, other staff members and administrators [and] can quickly become the downfall of a teacher.

On the other hand, greatly effective teachers:

  • [L]ove to teach and have a passion for teaching young people
  • [D]emonstrate a caring attitude
  • [R]elate to their students one on one
  • [T]hink outside the box
  • [A]re willing to be creative and adaptive to individual needs
  • [A]re proactive rather than reactive
  • [A]re excellent communicators to everyone who surrounds a student
  • [C]hallenge their students to do better

[W]hy would anyone ever want to become a teacher? The budgets for our classrooms dwindle each year, and teachers continue to take money out of their own pockets to provide their students with supplies. [S]chools are getting older, and fewer new schools are being built annually. Based on the school shootings over the last few years, teachers must now worry every day about the security of their students and themselves. […]

[Despite] these [concerns], teachers continue to inspire, and new, idealist[ic] college graduates are joining their ranks. This year, 284,000 new teachers joined public schools, compared to 222,000 a decade ago, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Public schools employed 3.1 million teachers this year, putting the average pupil-to-teacher ratio at 16 to 1, […] the same as it was in 2000. Public school expenditures this year were $634 billion, [or] $12,605 for each student. The […] average [percentage] of high school [students who dropped out fell to] 6.8% […] from […] 10.9% in 2000. The percentage of students enrolling in college in the fall immediately following high school […] is 65.9%; in 1976, it was 48.8%. Looking at the decline in dropouts and the increase in kids starting college, […] our current crop of teachers must be doing something right.

It does pay to stay in school. Today’s working adults age[s] 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree earn around $46,900 [annually], while those with an associate’s degree earn around $35,700. High school graduates earn around $30,000 [per year], and the median is $22,900 for those without a high school diploma.

The fact that the United States is ranked the 14th best educational country in the world according to Pearson is a real wake-up call. […] South Korea is ranked first, followed by Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, the United Kingdom and Canada. Pearson found the top-ranked countries offer teachers higher status in society and have a culture emphasizing education. Society’s attitude about education and its underlying moral purpose seems to be stronger in the top-rated countries. […]

It continues to amaze me that people want to become teachers. New teachers make around $36,000 [annually] and can earn $58,000 after 20 years, so striking it rich does not seem to be the reason to pursue this noble career. These teachers have a spirit that the rest of us just don’t possess. This school year, teachers took an average of $513 out of their own pockets for classroom supplies, food for hungry kids in their classes, instructional materials and books for their student. […]

It is up to concerned citizens and parents to make a difference for our kids and give teachers more help. The National Teacher Assistance Organization gathers donations […] for professional assistance to teachers. At Donors Choose, public school teachers post classroom project requests, and you can donate to the project that most inspires you. At Class Wish, you can help fund any teacher in the country. […]

It takes an entire village to bring quality education to the next generation. Our teachers care about their students [and] their neighborhoods, and they want to mold our kids into adults who care about our community. Great teachers start to move the minds of their students along the path of knowledge, preparing them for the journey of life and propelling them into the future of adulthood. Now that teachers are finishing up this school year and preparing for the next, it is up to our legislatures, our community leaders, parents and ordinary citizens to support all of our kids before it is too late. Our teachers have the compassion and willingness to bring our kids back into the top-10-rated countries in the world, [b]ut it is up to the rest of us to realize that a highly educated society means success and prosperity for all. […]

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/teachers-create-our-futur_b_10325238.html

Businesses Need American Education to Be Great

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Listening to the [2016] presidential debates, all [of] the candidates want to make America better than it is today. They want America to lead the world, not to follow. According to Ranking America, [the United States leads] the world with the largest prison population at 2,217,000 prisoners, followed by China at 1,657,812 and Russia at 646,085. We also [claim the world’s] highest divorce rate, […] and [we have] the most lawyers per person (one for every 265 Americans). [T]he one thing we do not lead the world in is education.

The […] United States is ranked [No. 14 in the world when it comes to education], according to Pearson, [which should serve as] a real wakeup call. […] South Korea is ranked first, followed by Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, the United Kingdom and Canada. Pearson found that the top-ranked countries offer teachers higher status in society and have a culture emphasizing education. [T]o think—just three decades ago, the United States was ranked first in the world [for education], and, if we could’ve hung onto that ranking, education would be a nonissue in this year’s elections.

[I]n 1990, the U.S.A. ranked first in the world in four-year degrees attained; today, we sit at No. 12. […] [Just last year], Atlas reported the U.S. government spent […] $154 billion […] on educational accounts, including the Department of Education, school nutrition programs, Head Start, student loan subsidies and veterans educational benefits. Education costs were 4.2% of the total budget, [a percentage surpassed by more than] 100 other countries worldwide. […]

The connection between a good education and income is overwhelming. Today’s working adults ages 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree earn [an average of] $46,900 [annually], while those with an associate’s degree earn $35,700 [per year]. High school graduates earn $30,000 [annually], and the median is $22,900 [per year] for those without a high school diploma.

Business leaders recognize that U.S.-based firms cannot compete without an educated populace and a skilled workforce, according to Harvard Business School. Of the 34 countries that signed the Convention for Economic Corporation and Development, [the] United States [ranks] 27th in mathematics, 17th in reading and 20th in understanding science. […]

How can we reverse this slide? [Your initial response may be to] throw more money into education, but that is not the right answer. America is the greatest, most technologically advanced country in the world, and we need to put this advantage to work in all schools. […] [O]ur schools need to let go of archaic practices and embrace technology to engage students, connect learners with educators, and invest in redesigning traditional school models that embrace the Internet and technology. Our own kids are way ahead of us on this. When you see a three-year-old teaching her grandmother how to use the Internet, you know this new generation is ready for just about any technology our schools can throw their way. Once we wake up and realize that our kids can use modern technology to learn the sciences and math in an engaging, relevant and personalized learning experience, this newest generation will drive us back to being No. 1 in the world. [D]on’t [think] that technology [alone can] enhance our kids’ experience; […] the real keys to strong schools are great teachers and principals who can implement technology creatively and efficiently.

During this election year, we can’t count on Congress to help our schools with additional funding in the near future. Our teachers take an average of $513 out of their own pockets [every year] for classroom supplies, […] instructional materials and books—[w]e cannot ask for more from these dedicated public servants. [I]t is up to concerned citizens, parents and business owners to make a difference for our kids. The nonprofit NPower has [a] community corps skill-based volunteering program engaging technology professionals with our schools, so if you are not technologically inclined, you should donate to help them help others. Code.org believes that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science, so donate to help this cause. […]

One or two business leaders are not going to make a difference in fixing our educational system. It is a country mindset that needs to permeate every school in every city like the attitude found in all the countries now beating us. Our past presidents have set national goals, and we, as a country, have risen up to achieve these goals. Think of Roosevelt taking on the Great Depression or Kennedy telling America we will land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. During this upcoming national election, we need a candidate who truly wants to take America back to being the No. 1 educational country in the world. We know that a better-educated populace will create new businesses and higher-paying jobs that will lift our entire economy. Every business person I know wants that for their company and for their kids.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/businesses-need-american_b_9239576.html

Who Pays for Our Kids’ Education?

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CBS News reported there are 200 one-room public schools located in rural areas left in America. At one time, just about every child was taught in a one-room school. Our second president, John Adams, taught in a one-room school near Boston. Abraham Lincoln was educated at a one-room school. Henry Ford loved his one-room schoolhouse so much that he had it moved to a museum in Michigan. As late as 1913, half of the country’s schoolchildren were enrolled in the country’s 200,000 one-room schools, [b]ut after World War I, people moved into cities, and one-room schools began to disappear. […]

There are 54,876,000 kids enrolled in schools [today], of which 49,484,000 are in public schools, according to the Center for Education Reform. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1 in public schools and 11:1 in private schools. Total public school expenditures were $607 billion [last year], with 12.7% coming from the federal government, 43.5% from the state and 43.8% [from] local expenses. The average public school expenditure per pupil was $13,000, and the average teacher makes $49,630 a year.

If you step back and study all of these numbers, they are just so huge. The number of kids […] in our school systems, the billions of dollars we spend to keep up the learning, and the amount of buildings we construct—[it all] makes our educational system alone rank as the 21st largest economy in the world. […] [Nevertheless], New York City […] teachers […] spend $500 of their own [incomes each year] on pens, paper and other instructional materials [for their classrooms]. Taking the 3.3 million teachers nationwide spending [an average of] $500 [annually] to help their kids, and we have over $1.6 billion coming out of teachers’ pockets to keep our schools going. […]

[The] teachers I know tell me they want to do their part in changing the world one student at a time by working on their hearts and minds and guiding them to become literate, empowered, engaged and creative. These teachers are passionate about their jobs, which most feel is their calling in life, [s]o pulling $500 out of their own pocket to help others is just what they do in their selflessness to make a difference.

[A]sking our teachers to do this is not right, [though]. Whether we have kids in school or not, all of us must be concerned with the quality of education we are providing for the next generation, and, as concerned citizens, we must make a difference and help our teachers help our kids. The National Teachers Assistance Organization is taking donations to help teachers. Donors Choose, an online nonprofit charity group that matches donors and teachers for supplies and projects, reports […] a 30% increase in requests for help from teachers this year. [The] Start Donating [website] is [another] easy way to help teachers get what they need. […]

We are a well-educated society, so how did we get ourselves into this cycle of putting this financial burden and stress on the teachers who we entrust with our kids every day? Teachers’ classrooms should be a sanctuary of learning, maturing and growing our children into the next greatest generation. Instead, we have our teachers worrying about the funding for the basic functions needed to educate our leaders of tomorrow. From John Adams and his one-room schoolhouse to our modern-day consolidated schools, we are still making it difficult for these dedicated teachers to perform at their best. It is the teachers of today, like the teachers of our forefathers, with their dedication and determination, who set the example for their students by their actions of caring and giving. The rest of us need to support these public servants and ease their personal burden of doing the right thing for our kids.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/who-pays-for-our-kids-edu_b_5512072.html

Kids Lose Their Future to Poverty

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Now that one school year is over and we are preparing for the next, June is a month of reflection for educators and parents on how to do better [for the] next school year. It is hard enough for students to learn at school in today’s world. You throw in overcrowding, teacher-to-student ratios, poverty affecting too many students, and lack of funding for supplies, and it becomes almost impossible for the average student to get ahead.

The New York Daily News reported that in New York City, 6,313 classes were [considered] overcrowded based on the teacher’s union contract, which sets 34 kids [per classroom] as the limit in high schools and 25 [kids per classroom] in Kindergarten. In these classrooms, kids were sitting on the floors or standing the whole period. It is tough to imagine how children can function in these overcrowded situations, let alone how can teachers concentrate and keep the kids interested. How can these kids learn when they are sitting on top of each other?

[Adding to this], 16 million children in the United States, [or] 22% of all [U.S.] children, live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level of $23,550 a year […] for a family of four, according to the National Center of Children in Poverty. These children are far more likely to have limited access to sufficient food, [a]nd with Congress cutting […] $8.6 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program […] earlier this year, these kids just got a little bit hungrier. The states where the most kids go hungry include New Mexico at 29.2%, Mississippi at 28.7%, Arizona at 28.2%, and Georgia and Nevada, both at 28.1%. How can these kids learn when they go to school hungry?

Now look at the 1.2 million children in the United States who are homeless. […] According to the American Institutes for Research, homeless children have four times as many respiratory infections, twice as many ear infections, five times more gastrointestinal problems, and [are] four times more likely to have asthma. [W]hen at school, they have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems compared to non-homeless children. How can these kids learn when they have so many personal problems?

Poverty and poor performance go hand in hand in school. DoSomething.org reports that children living in poverty have a higher [rate] of absenteeism, or [they] leave school altogether because they are more likely to have to work or care for family members. Dropout [rates among] 16- [to] 24-year-old students from low-income families are seven times [higher] than those from families with higher income[s]. By the end of the fourth grade, low-income students are already two years behind, and, by the 12th grade, they are four years behind. How can these kids perform [well as] adults when they fall so far behind in school?

The U.S. educational system is ranked as the 14th best in the world. South Korea is No. 1, followed by Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, [the] United Kingdom, Canada, [t]he Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Germany and Russia. Why is the most powerful nation in the world ranked in the middle of the pack in educating its children? Last year, $1.15 trillion was spent on education in the United States, of which 10.8% came from federal funds and the rest from state and local contributions. You would think that is enough to educate every student, rich or poor, but, obviously, it [is not].

The United States sure has a lot of things to fix to break into the top 10. […] Since the vast majority of funding for education falls back to the states and […] communities, local help is where it has got to begin. It has to fix the children who go hungry and the children of the poor. There are great organizations to contribute to for this, like Save the Children and the Children’s Defense League. […] We have to fix the homeless children situation, [a]nd, somehow, we have to get the right equipment into the hands of these poor kids—the right books, pencils, paper and calculators—so they can keep up with everyone else in their classrooms. […]

I wish we could just flip a switch and poverty and hunger and homelessness would disappear for our kids, but we all know that won’t happen. Who chooses [which] kids are born into wealth and those who are born to live on the streets? Who chooses the kids who suffer in overcrowded schools or those who go to schools with sophisticated arts, music and computer programs? Back in 1918, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Creed, which states, “The United States of America is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, established on the principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for all.” It is up to all of us to bring these poor, hungry and homeless children up to the standards our forefathers envisioned for all of us, and we need to start today.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/kids-lose-their-future-to_b_5337752.html

Teachers Have It Rough, but Kids Are the Ones Who Suffer

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With the start of the school year, we have yet another terrifying shooting incident—[this latest], at the McNair Discovery Learning Academy […] in Decatur, Ga., [occurred] less than a year […] from the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. Between Newtown and Decatur, the United States has [witnessed] 12 other shootings at schools.

I just can’t [imagine] how much stress this puts on all teachers. Our dedicated teachers do what they do because they have a passion to help mold the future of this country, foster creativity in young people, develop character in students and help people lead productive lives. They become teachers because of their sense of service. Having to protect kids from shootings was not part of their original job description—but it is now.

[O]n top of the stress to protect our kids, salaries have not moved much for teachers during the recession […], [b]ut what has moved […] is the money teachers take out of their own pockets to help their kids. According to USA Today, teachers will be spending an average of $400 out of their own pockets for classroom supplies […] this fall, […] up 3% from last year.

Mallori Lucas, a language arts teacher in Valparaiso, Indiana, says, “Of course we’re not forced to spend our money, [b]ut some of these kids don’t even get breakfast before they come to school, so we buy those snacks and treats.”

[T]he National Center for Education has school spending on supplies at 4.1% of the budget today compared to 8.1% [a decade ago]. Kids still need the same amount of supplies and learning materials they needed 10 years ago, but it does not look like our schools have this in their budgets.

Teachers by nature are resourceful, considering that last year, they took $3 billion out of their own pockets to help their kids, and they are going to spend even more this year. You can see this inventive behavior with what happened all over the country this summer as teachers anticipated they needed to help their students more than ever.

  • Elementary school teacher Mary Loung started Educycle, which helps other teachers sell or pass along [usable] school materials and shop for supplies they need in their classrooms. Businesses can also donate any surpluses to schools through Educycle.
  • The Chicago Sun Times reports that David Zine and Peter Baker, high school social study teachers from Aurora, rode their bicycles to Seattle to raise money for Best Buddies, a nonprofit that partners special-needs and general-education students to help forge friendships.
  • The Memphis Business Journal talks about […] Elizabeth Monda […], one of the first teachers to use the [crowdfunding] site PledgeCents […] to raise $4,000 for materials for her students. […]

How did we, as a well-educated society, get ourselves into this mess where we are putting so much stress on the teachers who we entrust with our kids every day? School should be a sanctuary of learning, maturing and growing our children into the next greatest generation. Instead, teachers worry about bullets and having enough money for the basic functions needed to educate the leaders of tomorrow.

Our current leaders have raised taxes, have us in a sequestration and can’t agree on anything to help move this country forward. Nothing has changed since Newtown, except we are spending less to help our teachers teach our kids to be decent and honorable. It is the teachers of today with their dedication and determination who will set the example for their students by their actions of caring and giving. The rest of us need to support these public servants and ease their personal burden of doing the right thing for our kids.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/teachers-have-it-roughbut_b_3805308.html

Back to School: It’s Make-It-or-Break-It Time for the Economy

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Spending this fall for students K-12 is expected to drop 12%, according to a National Retail Federation survey reported in The Wall Street Journal. The average that will be spent on each kid is $634.78, down from $688.62 in 2012. Even those going to college are expecting decreases from $836.80 this year [compared to] $907.22 last year.

[I]t looks like the payroll tax hike, the sequestration and the continued sluggish job market are finally going to rear their ugly heads during the first major sales season of the year. This is troublesome news for retailers, because the back-to-school (BTS) season is like the canary in the coal mine; BTS sales trends historically predict how the holiday fourth-quarter sales will turn out. [I]n another BTS warning about the economy, 47.7% of college students expect to live at home [in 2013], up from 42.9% in 2012.

These depressing numbers tell us that the American family has begun to focus on the needs of their children for BTS rather than the wants of their kids. If working Americans are having trouble getting their kids ready for BTS, what about the children in families stuck in poverty or not working at all? According to The Hechinger Report, poverty is getting so concentrated in America that one [in] five public schools is classified as “high poverty” […] by the U.S. Department of Education. To be classified as [a] high-poverty [school], 75% of [its] elementary, middle or high school students must qualify for […] free or reduced-price [lunches].

Moyers & Co. reports that […] poverty affects 46.2 million people [in the United States], [including] 16.1 million children. […] Deep poverty, [or a household income below] $11,510 [annually] for a family of four, hits 20.4 million people, [or] one in 15 Americans. On top of all this, we have 1,065,794 homeless students enrolled in U.S. preschools and K-12 schools, and […] only 48% of poor children are ready for school by the age of five, compared to 75% of children from moderate- and high-income families.

[W]e have parents who are going to be spending less on their children for BTS, [a]nd we have poverty creating a major burden for schools to figure out how to deal with accommodating these kids’ needs. This is a bleak time for not only our economy but to the answer of how we cope with an all-inclusive society so that no child is left behind.

Some organizations are rising to the occasion with drives to provide the underprivileged with what they need to go back to school with dignity—staples like backpacks, school supplies and clothes. Fox News reported [that] in St. Louis, the National Council of Jewish Women brought a “[b]ack-to-[s]chool store” to 1,200 children in need. […] The Broomfield Enterprise in Colorado reports the organization Crayons to Calculators hopes to provide 9,000 students with new backpacks full of supplies [in 2013]. The City Wire in Arkansas reports on [a] “Stuff the Bus” campaign supported by the United Way, where bright yellow buses will be scattered throughout Fort Smith to collect school supplies for children in need [for] the ninth year. We can all help online at Operation Backpack, where they are gathering backpacks for New York City children in need. […]

We have been putting up with this recession since late 2007. It has been close to six years where the poor are getting poorer, the needy are getting needier, and now it looks like our schoolchildren will be getting less. Spending less for BTS is a major blow to our economy, and when word of this decrease becomes widespread, it will be a major blow to the American psyche. As Americans, we have to do what we can do to ensure the long-term survival of our educational system, because all these kids—rich and poor—are our future. Dig deep into your pockets and help out your local backpack drive by donating backpacks, school supplies or cash so they can buy what is needed for the underprivileged. If you are a parent or grandparent, spend a little more on your kids for BTS so we can prove the predictions wrong. If this BTS season is truly less than last year, then we are in for a long, cold fall and winter retail season, which will keep us in this recession for another year.

Original article here:https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/back-to-school-its-make-i_b_3671731.html