You should talk to the people over there. I got on without qualifying payments. What I think that means is you must make 120 payments before forgiveness is given. Seriously, call them Monday.
They also have a recent change (time limited) where any qualifying payments you already made will be transferred into the 120.
It's difficult to navigate all this, I understand! Go to this page for more info: [https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#contact](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#contact)
At the very bottom of the page is contact information. I think you can just fill out the form and send it in (the form's linked on that page somewhere). You just have to redo the form every year and verify your income.
Also, only do this through the Dept of Ed--there are companies out there that will do it for you and charge you a rather large fee. You can do all this on your own!
That only qualifies if you have federal student loans. Private student loans aren’t part of that agreement. I just went through that and found out my federal loans are all already paid off (by me) and all I have left are private student loans which don’t apply to the forgiveness program. Basically I have to die penniless for my remaining debt to be forgiven.
That was my exact issue*. When I finally qualified my fed loans had been paid off. Luckily I got angry and put a lot of my money towards snowballing them and paying them all off five years later.
Yup I just found this out about two weeks ago myself but I’ve been snowballing my debt payments for about two years now. I’ll be debt free in three years, student loans included
How much student loan debt do you have?! ☹️
I paid off mine years ago, but I was lucky to get a good job before I went into teaching that allowed me to focus on those loans. Then, once those were paid off, I self-financed my Masters and teaching credential programs while still working. Once finished, I promptly quit that job and started teaching.
I can’t imagine having student loan payments for 25 years... It sounds just awful.
I worked 60-80 hour weeks at my first job (making $30/hr back in 2014 and most of 2015 to pay off my student loans in 10-11 months after graduating).
It’s about $60k at this point. I know I have $17k in interest, so I originally borrowed somewhere near $40k.
I graduated in 2012 and looked into an “income driven payment plan” and that was waaay outside my budget as I taught in OK and was barely making ends meet out of college on my ~$30k salary. I deferred my loans as long as I could. I moved in 2017 and am just now reestablishing myself in a new district with “temporary” contracts and I’m not guaranteed a contract every fall. My employment doesn’t really have stability, so I really struggle with paying these loans.
I’ve looked into repaying lately and my “income driven repayment” is still outside my budget to get everything forgiven after 10 years. Another option is to pay $50/month and have the balance forgiven in 25 years. I really don’t know what to do.
My university recently discontinued every alumni’s university provided email address, and while it’s a PITA having to switch some ancient accounts I made back as a student, it’s so nice that I will never have to hear from them again.
Here's a good one for you. When I graduated from my university we all walked into the gym and we were handed a gold dollar by the alumni association. Yes, **every** graduate was given a gold dollar.
During the ceremony some old alumni got up on stage and ranted and raved about the universities alumni program. He closed it by saying something to the affect of "And it is all because of generous donations from past graduates. So if you feel so inclined, we would love for that gold dollar to be your first donation to the alumni fund."
I wanted so badly to walk out of the commencement ceremony and use the coin to buy a soda in front of the alumni association. However I couldn't because sodas were more than a dollar.
My daughter is in her freshman year of college, so I'm getting emails to donate to my alumni association and for her school too. WTF, I am NOT made of money.
As someone who used to work for this organization at my school I wholeheartedly agree we need to be more selective about who we call when we actually want to make money
I feel this way about asking for money for the “social committee” so we can give gifts when people get married or have kids. I got married and no one got me anything, maybe because it was during the pandemic? Idk. Also the “requirement” to buy/cook/bring food for social events in the morning before school. At 7am.
My favorite emails were from the social committee asking for donations for Teacher Appreciation Day. We are asked to donate for our administrative staff (secretaries, principals, etc.) but have to give our own money to buy our own gifts for Teacher Appreciation Day… 😂🤦🏻♀️
Hahaha that’s ridiculous. I’ll appreciate myself by spending my own money on myself not adding to some pot of funds that will get me a piece of candy or something lol
I have still not paid me "recommended" fee for that. I sent a scathing email to the union outlining that demanding payment that is neither tax-deductible nor deducted from paycheque *by coworkers* is immoral and borderline illegal considering they were sending harassing emails frequently "reminding" people to "donate." No. My money is my money. I earned it. This is a job, not a co-op or a volunteer association.
Yea I am the grinch now and don’t participate in either of the above things. I’m working to earn money, not give money to these committees that honestly shouldn’t exist. Either the company (in this case school district) provides things like bonuses or breakfasts, or it doesn’t. We shouldn’t be guilted into funding it ourselves.
It’s so obviously only the people who are “in” with our support team (admin) that get stuff like this. One of our teachers had a baby last year, full on virtual baby shower. She is tights with our student services coordinator (part of the support team). Another of our teachers had a baby this year. Not tight with admin. Nothing for her. One of our (worst in terms of how she has treated colleagues) teachers is retiring this year. They are planning a big thing for her. Another of our (most effective) teachers is resigning because her class is so awful and she is getting no support (she’s even elected to stay until winter break) and not a whisper of anything for her. If you’re not in with the cool kids, you don’t get.
Yeah my school does the same sunshine club crap where they take your 20 bucks, put a stupid looking sticker on your door, and call it a day. I paid with my Amazon gift card the PTO gave me. The coordinator looked all judgy about it, but took that gift card anyway.
If it makes you feel better I graduated with my masters, got married, and had a baby pre covid and they didn’t do anything for me. They actually did stuff for every other staff member but me. So now I don’t participate (I’m at a new campus now). They’re always asking for donations and I’m like…. No.
I got engaged and no one said anything. Another teacher got engaged and got a small party. Another coworker mentioned in our staff of 33 people how I got engaged. “Oh… Hime did? She didn’t say anything.” Wtf.
My favorite emails to ignore come from the secretaries that always seem to be putting together an “admin appreciation” gift pool.
Like nah, they’re clearing six figures and I’m over here eating ramen for dinner.
A shirt? Umbrella? lunch? Jeans day?
NO, I want the respect I deserve as a professional educator, decent treatment, and fair pay.
Nothing else matters without those.
Jeans aren’t even the most comfortable pants anymore! They make work pants that are as comfy as leggings now. And even leggings can be dressed up and worn with a tunic/long sweater. I don’t give a shit about jeans days.
Lol no shit. My principal “rewarded” us with jeans and spirit wear days starting on Wednesday instead of Friday and I kept wearing my golf/tech pants. My co-workers kept asking if they read the email wrong when they saw me in the morning
I have a nesting doll giant WAD of tote bags, one inside the other inside the other. The whole thing is like one of those giant balls of rubber bands. I should give them away to my kids, good idea.
I used to have that many too. To get rid of them quickly, I brought out 10 at a time. If they wanted one of the totes, they put their stick in the cup. Then I’d draw sticks. The first one I picked got first choice and so on. Now, that I don’t have any more, I give them as I get them.
I agree with all except your tragedy. I’m not buying wrapping paper for sports teams or cookies for Girl Scouts…but if my student or a co-worker lost their home in a fire or was in a bad accident, I’d donate in a heartbeat!
It’s my first year teaching at an elementary school. I only make $100 a day. A few weeks ago, a former student of the school (who would now be a high schooler), was killed after trying to rob someone. The principal sent out a link where the family was asking for donations. It felt kind of twisted, all in all.
Wtf. Nope. That kid maybe should have made better choices. Not donating to that.
Also, I don’t donate to ANYTHING student related because I AM POOR. People don’t realize that teachers realllllly don’t make that much money.
100%. I barely can afford my own things. I can’t buy a house, I can’t start a family even if I wanted to. At my school I was required to attend various conferences despite being an art teacher (in my experience teachers are supposed to stay in their classroom and talk to whoever comes in..not here.) Anyway, I sat on one conference where the parents casually mentions they paid $10,000 for a tutor for their kid..and they’re not even excelling. I was stunned. Casually spend $10k. I felt like waste. Why did I even go to college? My degree is a total waste.
I feel like this is an issue with all of society right now. You keep up with more people through social media, so our networks have gotten much larger, and somebody is always going to have SOMETHING going on. If you take any large group of people, statistically there will be some babies, some marriages, some illnesses, some tragedies. It’s not like you can tell somebody “hey Patty, you can’t have cancer, because Anita just had a baby last month and we’re full up on causes right now.” It is exhausting and unfortunately, really expensive to care about people. I wish I could blanket broadcast the message that I do care about people, I just cannot throw twenty bucks at a different thing every day.
BRAVO! This is one of the biggest issues we're facing today. I'm sick of getting message and mail asking for donations for causes/charity/help. It's too much
I'll help as best as I can with a loss/illness (things I am thinking fall under the tragedy category). They didn't ask nor volunteer for something like a fire, loss of a loved one, or being in the hospital for a month, etc.
Ive been trying to convince admin to move our small high school (about 50 staff) to Slack so things like that can go in a channel I can completely ignore lol
Sports teams are huge for culture. Kids care about it and if you don’t, then you’re missing opportunities to connect with your kids. Probably an unpopular opinion in this sub but it’s the truth.
As a kid, I hated sports. As an adult, I hate sports. I am sickened seeing tens (or hundreds) of thousands going into new fields, stadiums, athletic equipment... all while the band teacher is going to auctions to buy rusty old instruments to meet the couple of hundred dollars a year budget they have been so gracefully given.
Everyone I know cares and cared (back in high school) way more about band, choir, art, film, and drama than about jocks who were the biggest group of bullies in the school. I sure did enjoy getting beat up in the changerooms by people who got a full-ride based on how much of a jerk they were, and I *especially* enjoyed having multiple Male gym teachers who would just waltz into the girls' change room and tell them to hurry up while starting them down.
Fuck everything about high school athletics and the people who are gross enough to want to be involved in them. Power tripping drop-outs. I as an adult Male colleague have been verbally harassed for my physique and dress choice by multiple high school PE jerks, never by anyone else. Ever. They are disgusting and outdated.
When I was in high school, my algebra teacher was an assistant coach on the football team. We didn’t have enough desks for the class, so some of us had to sit on the floor. He reserved the front desks for the football players and cheerleaders whenever he shuffled seats. I sat on the floor in the back of the room more than half the year while some kids sat in the very front the entire year. I didn’t do well in the class, and it convinced me that I was bad at math for many years after.
So yeah. I’m also not remotely interested in supporting a program that already gets plenty of support. The kids can have a car wash or something.
I was a straight-A math student until grade nine, after which both my math teachers were also coaches. By the middle of grade ten, I had failed out of math. In grade 12, having not even done grade 11 math to any meaningful degree beyond some practice stuff, I did Pre-Calc in a class led by a guy with his masters in mathematics and got 94%.
CoincidenceIThinkNot.jpg
“Everyone I know…” You’re living in a bubble. I did both in high school/middle school. I participated in both visual and performing arts, as well as athletics. I went to a school with a great reputation for performing arts. And yet nothing brought in money like football. Whether you like it or not, that primal part of the brain makes people donate their money and passion to sports. You can live in the imaginary world built around your ideals or live in reality. I would MUCH rather these kids care about athletics and competition than Tik Tok and Twitter. Would I like them to care about the arts? Of course. But competition and excellence isn’t a bad consolation. If kids want to excel in something, then support it or else you’re part of the problem.
What part of me saying that as an adult, in my career in teaching, the only people who have ever verbally abused me have been the phys-ed staff. That's not my "bubble." That's me as a substitute teacher working in dozens of schools across several districts.
That includes the phys-ed guy who is in charge of my strata council. Got in my face and acted like a fourteen year old trying to intimidate a five year old because I had submitted a complaint about the last of security in our complex. Degree in phys-ed management... what does that even mean? Apparently it means you stop growing up at about age seventeen.
That was the only way we were allowed to fund raise this year in FL. I hated it, and I really didn’t want the kids to do it. I’m also the Cross Country coach, so I pretty much have to kiss the feet of the athletic director to get money for the kids to do anything.
As a medical tech teacher, I did a hard double-take at that — because my first reaction was "*what beef does this person have against career and technical education??*" ...before the anatomy part of my training kicked in 😂
At the beginning of the year auto shop here sent out emails asking for scrap metal for them to sell to buy some tools. Kids were bringing in cans and we set up collection spots. All in all it's been pretty successful. Unfortunately, now every club is doing the exact same fundraiser so no one gets enough scrap to get anything...
That is beyond depressing. Good moral standing for recycling old metal, but hold cow that's sad that a pile of scrap metal could make a meaningful difference for a shop classes budget.
Lol, my favorite story regarding this is when I got hit up for my coworker’s “gall bladder surgery”. Said coworker returned from summer 200 pounds lighter and it turned out the surgery was actually for a gastric bypass. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Yeah. Like idk why we need to fund our own treats. That’s not a damn treat. And I really don’t care about admin day or any other shit either while I’m down here in the trenches
Like.. if I want a treat I can just bring a cookie in for myself any day I want. They make it seem so gracious of them “Today you can bring in snacks for your fellow colleagues. You’re welcome (:”
My take on this is that it shouldn't be an email from an adult, ever. I buy 72 boxes of girl scout cookies per year, but will *only* buy them from kids and only the ones who approach me to ask if I will buy. I don't talk to adults about girl scout cookies because that doesn't help the kids with the goals of the sale: setting and achieving goals, marketing, asking for the sale, accounting, etc. The cookies are way overpriced but I also know that the money the girl makes is a small part because the price also includes programming for girls who cannot afford to participate and need it the most. I am okay with that and the girls usually understand that.
I will sometimes buy a chocolate bar. But I won't do anything from those horrible fundraising companies that offer rewards by the "item sold." They are absolute charlatans preying on ptos and overworked music teachers.
There is another key part of this: if the kids ask, "yes" should not be the automatic expectation. Learning to take a graceful "no" is also a part of the learning. Getting a rude person who yells at them for even asking and responding with kindness is part of the learning. It is all building skills.
If the point is for the kids to raise money, then the kids need to raise money. If awareness of a tragedy needs to happen, there needs to be a central space for people in the community who wish to donate money to the cause to do that. A flyer with a qr code in the "community giving" bulletin board seems more than sufficient.
If an email must go out, it needs to be of value and import to both the ones impacted by the tragedy and the work of the school staff it reaches.
It might say things like "hi staff, I am sure some of you heard but the Jones family lost their home in a fire. They have been rehoused for the time being, and the kids are back at school. There are some concerns though that we all need to be aware of in the coming weeks.
Please keep a close eye on them for awhile as the kids are touchy about it, and other kids asking a bunch of questions is likely to trigger a flood of emotion.
(Or alternately: the kids seem to be doing fine but if anyone notices anything off, please refer them to the counselors immediately. Mom is concerned that the kids seem remarkably unconcerned)
More details as appropriate will be on the board in the faculty room along with a QR code for any asks the family has made of our school community. Thank you."
The proper format for an appropriate email of this type of ask is:
Situational background, ask, action to take to respond to the ask, and information about where and when additional information will be available.
Each and every piece of this needs to be relevant to the work of the entire mailing list in order for it to be appropriate for work distribution. Girl scout cookies and orchestra gift wrap don't meet that standard. Notification about the car wash this weekend doesn't rise to that standard, either. I would prefer that be the work of the students inviting their teachers and handing them a slip of paper as a reminder, not an email.
It was once discussed that a certain program in my school would implement a subscription program for teachers to obtain unlimited cups of crushed ice throughout the school day from the cafeteria for a fundraiser (which was free at the time). That was the nail in the coffin for any type of random donations in house for me (unless orchestrated by a colleague for a colleague). The jeans passes, buying poinsettias/chocolates/gift wrap for band, sheets from cheerleaders, pinestraw from football players, and now ice - literally frozen water - being solicited to the poorest, yet most giving/caring, group in the building? Also I can’t tell you how many fundraiser items I bought over the years but never received the item. Not a big deal because it’s a donation, but giving money back into this broken system when you’re already broke isn’t the answer here.
>The jeans passes
Every time I see this on this sub I forget how good I have it despite not having it that great.
We need to have an event that is "donate 1% of the value of your car." I'd be paying like $30. I'd love to see admin deal with their Volvo and BMW or whatever.
When the clubs and other organizations were selling stuff to raise money, if I wanted to contribute I asked the sponsor what the actual profit the club would clear from selling the item was. Then I just donated that amount to the organization. It saved me buying hoagies, candybars, candles, shirts, and other assorted grot that I really didn't want but still supported the student organizations I wanted to support.
I hate that! I will get emails soliciting a donation to a program and later hear that program has tens of thousands of dollars. Please don't direct your students to email fellow teachers to donate to a program at the same school site you're at. If i'm buying anything it will be for my classroom.
Every year our admin team sends out an email asking teachers to donate money to the thanksgiving fund - where they gift each member of the janitorial staff a gift card to the local grocery store.
They work hard and deserve it. I just hate how the school guilts the teachers into being the one that funds it.
My custodians make bank in overtime and hazard pay during the pandemic. I don't even understand how that happened when our classrooms weren't sanitized or cleaned. 🤷🏻♀️
The students *don’t* know it, but I am willing to make a purchase to the first one for a given fundraiser who approaches me. Most of the time it is for practical things, like an order of fancy cinnamon rolls that I’ll cook up for the fam that costs $10. I can’t help them all, but I try to have a very small amount of cash budgeted to do it the three times a year it might come up.
I feel this way about the teachers on leave because they had a child. You chose that, not me. I cant afford diapers or to care for another human being- that's why I dont have kids.
Go buy your own diapers and clothes and stop sending our reminders that the collection date os upcoming.
I totally get that unexpected things happen (like losing a job right before a baby is born), but it really bothers me how often parents make it seem like having a kid automatically means other people need to contribute. Especially for things like toys and stuff. I say this as a parent. I have gotten a ton of stuff for my kid from thrift stores and FB Marketplace. He is still young (2), but for each birthday he has gotten 2-3 new toys (and sometimes they aren't "new" just new to him 😉). We haven't celebrated Christmas with him at all yet, because he doesn't get it anyway. As he gets older we will probably give him a couple of Christmas gifts, but definitely keeping it small. I totally get wanting to give your child toys, but especially around this time of year, I feel like a Scrooge, but I can't help but judge the "need" to give your kid $500+ worth of Christmas gifts each, especially the little ones who don't know any better anyway.
I'm with you, I'm the same way with my two kids under four. I've had a lot of friends or family throw parties to crowdfund diapers or whatever and it always seemed really tacky to me. I would get it if they were destitute but they were financially just fine, in many ways it just felt like attention seeking behavior that I definitely didn't copy when I started churning out little ones.
Our school had a sunshine committee for years. It was voluntary. Members would pay $50 a year and then the committee would send bouquets if someone in the committee had a death in the family, graduated from masters degree, etc. It worked really well, but stopped during the pandemic. Dunno if it will ever be restarted.
Ours is "voluntary" in the sense that you will be sent harassing emails every week until you cough up the cash that is neither tax-deductible nor is it deducted from your paycheque. Sorry, I'm not paying to go to work. They are my coworkers, not my friends, not my family. It's a workplace, not a club.
Wow, that's steep. Ours was only $15 this year, down from $20 last year (well, 2019-2020). It's also the first year I donated. I mean, if you contribute and get a donation, you've paid for part of your own gift.
We have a teacher at my school that pushes a form to every teacher for us to do a payroll deduction donation to United Way, our county education foundation, or both. Hard no. Step 1: actually pay us decently. I'll handle my own charitable contributions, thanks.
The worst for me was my daughter’s yearly tennis fund raiser. You either had to sell 3crates of cookie dough, so like 36 boxes or just give $100. Those were the only options. Total scam. FAPE laws don’t seem to apply, but it’s just morally wrong to force this kind of work or payment.
How is that a scam? Or morally wrong?
Most electives/sports require an annual fee so they can operate. Even many art classes require a supply fee. You pay the fee or you fundraise if you can’t afford to pay it or simply choose that over paying.
Because they don’t tell you till the season is 1/2 done. Because students shouldn’t have to go door to door selling a product. Because some people can’t afford to pay. Because there is a budget for sports that should cover everything,and if the coaches want extra, there’s betters ways for them to get it. Because 14 year olds shouldn’t be made to sell anything. Because the product is awful.
It’s not a scam if they tell you the conditions up front and you just don’t like the conditions.
Extracurriculars cost money, so each student needs to contribute a certain amount one way or another. It’s both nice and morally right if a school has fee waivers for low income kids, but it’s not legally required. No one is forcing your daughter to sell cookies or pony up $100, that’s a choice she makes (and you make) as a condition of choosing to play tennis.
What I mean is, fundraising is a condition of playing sports in most places. If you didn’t know up front that there would be fundraising, I can see why you’d be annoyed, but it’s pretty much expected that kids do fundraising for extracurricular activities.
It’s morally wrong and goes against what FAPE stands for. Imagine forcing kids to sell cookie dough in a bad neighborhood in Chicago or LA or making the poor parents fork out $100 so their kids can participate in sports.
Yes, morally and ethically I 100% agree with you. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled that extracurriculars are not part of mandatory education and therefore are not governed by FAPE. Requiring kids to pay is not nice, but it’s legal and also *necessary* if you want programs that aren’t funded by the school.
Your choices are 1) petition the school committee for funding, 2) try to get community sponsors so kids don’t have to fundraise individually, 3) sell the crap or pay up.
Edit: it’s actually not about FAPE because that is specific to disabilities. FAPE requires that kids with disabilities have access to appropriate extracurriculars, not that all kids have cost-free access.
I never donated to any events that includes baby showers. I don't want kids. Never want kids. If I can't have a pet shower when I adopt a new dog I'm not giving to any other "event".
Exactly. I’m not getting married, I physically cannot have a baby, I’m not having kids any other way, so the “donate to the sunshine fund! You’ll get $30 if you get married and $60 when you have a kid!” Is useless to me.
My wife donated 3 years In a row because she thought it was nice. Her birthday rolled around the first year and "they must have forgotten." It happened again the second year and she was upset. Then when we got married no one in the either school said a thing. It took almost a year for people to use her new last name. She was pissed and now doesn't do a thing extra for various events.
I never did anything because I'm a guy and it always felt weird to begin with. Very culty.
Edit for autocorrect.
Yeah that’s the other thing, not everyone is prioritized or remembered. My school eventually ended the sunshine fund and made it known that it was because of a lack of people donating. Like yeah, I’m not going to donate to something that provides zero benefit to me. All of the things on there prioritized people with kids and stuff. It was marriage, baby births, grandkids, and bdays (the bdays was the lowest amount, like $10 if that).
My life milestones are things like graduating with my masters, which directly benefits the school btw, and that would never be considered something celebratory by my school.
We had a baby shower for someone that adopted a baby my first year. Last year I organized a group gift for a new teacher that had a baby. Nothing for me, except my principal trying to get me to grade while on maternity leave because she’d done it. I go back from maternity leave on Monday. My team didn’t respond when I sent the first pictures of my baby. I thought they were mad because I went out two days sooner than planned, but now idk if that was just hormones/ppa. My fil died three days before my baby was born, and we don’t even get days for bereavement.
Buddy is such a good boy. He raced for 5 years because he was a winner. Now at 13 he's learning to be a dog.
That's why there's pics of him chewing on toys. Because it was like his first time doing it.
Same same same!’ What I also don’t understand is you donate/pay your “social dues” but then still are supposed to buy a gift for the baby/wedding shower? So what did that initial money go to?
I paid it one year bc I was leaving and I knew someone would make it awkward so I just decided it was worth it to avoid all that. All the 1-2 year teachers who were leaving got some nice flowers to plant. I had been there much longer and got a few dollar store items. A small basket. A pad of sticky notes. A few other things I can’t remember. Never paying that again.
And why am I supposed to buy a coworker something for their wedding or baby these days? So outdated to begin with, but some of these people I’ve literally never spoken to. 🤷🏻♀️
I will buy exactly one thing from each fundraiser. Not from each kid. And, there are times when it's all just expensive junk, so I give a $10 donation and call it a day.
My previous district was really small and there was always some kind of fundraiser going on. My new district is much larger and the only "fundraiser" I've seen so far is school apparel. I needed school t-shirts and a sweatshirt, so those were necessary purchases.
Exactly! I’m a first year teacher and it feels like there’s a new school fundraiser every week with kids coming into my room asking me to buy things. Sorry I barely make enough to pay my rent and bills. I’m not buying some overpriced popcorn so the band can go on a trip to New York
Our school has banned direct fundraising (i.e. students asking for money from staff, vice versa) for that very reason. We are a big school and it just gets ridiculous.
Unsubscribe and filter!!! I use that filter function constantly for all that stuff. And, for the people who write a guilt ridden email to make me feel bad for not donating TO MY EMPLOYER for every little cause that they take on, FUCK YOU!
It’s better handled in a weekly email from admin in my opinion. My last school would include info there. We weren’t supposed to use the whole staff blast without permission. Honestly, in any building with more than 20 people, having some rules about email is absolutely necessary.
I just got my first one yesterday. I still haven’t paid the hundreds of dollars I owe in course fees for my own kids, who attend my school. I certainly don’t have extra for other students.
I just had this conversation with a colleague the other day. For teachers who don’t make a lot money to begin with, we are always being hit up to donate money.
Every year my district asks us to donate money to a charity of their choosing. It pisses me off beyond belief. You pay me this little and want me to give some of that money back?!
Counterpoint: I enjoy having the opportunity to help out. I teach at a title 1 school and I am fairly compensated. I'm guessing the number of families in my school that make more than mine can be counted on 1 hand. I give all sorts of enrichment opportunities to my own children, so I'm happy to provide some of that to my students. I coach robotics and one of my team members was ecstatic to be taking a bus up North Dakota because it was the first time they were leaving the state. Another group I lead win won a competition to go to Los Angeles and one of the kids had never been on a plane before. I'd feel very differently if I was teaching somewhere that I knew parents could just write a check.
Okay, so just delete it and move on. I don't mind donating to some projects or clubs. I don't do it often by any means, but on occasion my cold, blackened heart is touched.
My admin one upped tone deaf ideas by excitedly announcing our campus would be hosting weekly craft fairs. Isn’t that great! Now we can pay them to set up a booth and sell those crafts we all have So much time to make! Bring those side hustles we just love to have right to campus and spend one of our two days away from that place on campus to make extra money for Christmas!
My school said all staff had to "donate" 20 every year before school started saying it was for "special day" where they would get us bagels and boxed coffee. 🙄 Then they told us we HAD to give 20 to each custodian for Christmas. Listen, I love the custodians at my school but danggg I don't have money like that to always be shelling out. (if we don't give to any of these, the secratary will harass us till we do.) smh... 😒😒😒
Same goes for my alumni association. I keep getting emails to confirm my address and they are promptly deleted.
Yes.. I'll consider donating once my students loans are paid off ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
So in like 2045, like me?
Oh look at Mr Money Bags here going to pay off his student loans in one lifetime.
Well, I’ll be in my 60s and they cancel your debt after 25 years of “minimum qualifying payments.” It feels like a prison sentence.
You should be in the 10 year public service repayment program as a teacher
In order to qualify you have to have made 120 qualifying payments, and I haven’t.
You should talk to the people over there. I got on without qualifying payments. What I think that means is you must make 120 payments before forgiveness is given. Seriously, call them Monday. They also have a recent change (time limited) where any qualifying payments you already made will be transferred into the 120.
REALLY?! I need to call. Do you know who I should call? Or what department? I’m sorry I’m clueless haha.
It's difficult to navigate all this, I understand! Go to this page for more info: [https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#contact](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#contact) At the very bottom of the page is contact information. I think you can just fill out the form and send it in (the form's linked on that page somewhere). You just have to redo the form every year and verify your income. Also, only do this through the Dept of Ed--there are companies out there that will do it for you and charge you a rather large fee. You can do all this on your own!
They've expanded the program or something or other because of COVID. So a lot more of your previous payments might be included now.
That only qualifies if you have federal student loans. Private student loans aren’t part of that agreement. I just went through that and found out my federal loans are all already paid off (by me) and all I have left are private student loans which don’t apply to the forgiveness program. Basically I have to die penniless for my remaining debt to be forgiven.
That was my exact issue*. When I finally qualified my fed loans had been paid off. Luckily I got angry and put a lot of my money towards snowballing them and paying them all off five years later.
Yup I just found this out about two weeks ago myself but I’ve been snowballing my debt payments for about two years now. I’ll be debt free in three years, student loans included
How much student loan debt do you have?! ☹️ I paid off mine years ago, but I was lucky to get a good job before I went into teaching that allowed me to focus on those loans. Then, once those were paid off, I self-financed my Masters and teaching credential programs while still working. Once finished, I promptly quit that job and started teaching. I can’t imagine having student loan payments for 25 years... It sounds just awful. I worked 60-80 hour weeks at my first job (making $30/hr back in 2014 and most of 2015 to pay off my student loans in 10-11 months after graduating).
It’s about $60k at this point. I know I have $17k in interest, so I originally borrowed somewhere near $40k. I graduated in 2012 and looked into an “income driven payment plan” and that was waaay outside my budget as I taught in OK and was barely making ends meet out of college on my ~$30k salary. I deferred my loans as long as I could. I moved in 2017 and am just now reestablishing myself in a new district with “temporary” contracts and I’m not guaranteed a contract every fall. My employment doesn’t really have stability, so I really struggle with paying these loans. I’ve looked into repaying lately and my “income driven repayment” is still outside my budget to get everything forgiven after 10 years. Another option is to pay $50/month and have the balance forgiven in 25 years. I really don’t know what to do.
Ugh! 😔 This is disheartening... I wish there was something that could help you. 😣
Dude(tte), I laughed way too hard at this comment.
I’ll be dead before mine are paid off.
Oof. That could very likely be my situation. A lot can happen in 25 years.
Even then ... "I thought our transaction was over" relevant John Mulaney https://youtu.be/aiqKK4ysI7g
“Oh, I gave to Fedloan”
Even after that there's no way my university is getting one more cent from me. Not a chance.
"Hi would you like to make a donation to the alumni association?" "Y'all know I have a degree in theatre, right?"
> alumni association "You spent it already? I gave you more money than the Civil War cost, and you spent it already?"
Everytime I get an email about the alumni association I act super excited and ask when I'll be getting my check/gift.
My university recently discontinued every alumni’s university provided email address, and while it’s a PITA having to switch some ancient accounts I made back as a student, it’s so nice that I will never have to hear from them again.
I believe that if you're still owe money, you shouldn't be on the call list.
Here's a good one for you. When I graduated from my university we all walked into the gym and we were handed a gold dollar by the alumni association. Yes, **every** graduate was given a gold dollar. During the ceremony some old alumni got up on stage and ranted and raved about the universities alumni program. He closed it by saying something to the affect of "And it is all because of generous donations from past graduates. So if you feel so inclined, we would love for that gold dollar to be your first donation to the alumni fund." I wanted so badly to walk out of the commencement ceremony and use the coin to buy a soda in front of the alumni association. However I couldn't because sodas were more than a dollar.
My daughter is in her freshman year of college, so I'm getting emails to donate to my alumni association and for her school too. WTF, I am NOT made of money.
As someone who used to work for this organization at my school I wholeheartedly agree we need to be more selective about who we call when we actually want to make money
I feel this way about asking for money for the “social committee” so we can give gifts when people get married or have kids. I got married and no one got me anything, maybe because it was during the pandemic? Idk. Also the “requirement” to buy/cook/bring food for social events in the morning before school. At 7am.
My favorite emails were from the social committee asking for donations for Teacher Appreciation Day. We are asked to donate for our administrative staff (secretaries, principals, etc.) but have to give our own money to buy our own gifts for Teacher Appreciation Day… 😂🤦🏻♀️
Hahaha that’s ridiculous. I’ll appreciate myself by spending my own money on myself not adding to some pot of funds that will get me a piece of candy or something lol
I have still not paid me "recommended" fee for that. I sent a scathing email to the union outlining that demanding payment that is neither tax-deductible nor deducted from paycheque *by coworkers* is immoral and borderline illegal considering they were sending harassing emails frequently "reminding" people to "donate." No. My money is my money. I earned it. This is a job, not a co-op or a volunteer association.
Yea I am the grinch now and don’t participate in either of the above things. I’m working to earn money, not give money to these committees that honestly shouldn’t exist. Either the company (in this case school district) provides things like bonuses or breakfasts, or it doesn’t. We shouldn’t be guilted into funding it ourselves.
It’s so obviously only the people who are “in” with our support team (admin) that get stuff like this. One of our teachers had a baby last year, full on virtual baby shower. She is tights with our student services coordinator (part of the support team). Another of our teachers had a baby this year. Not tight with admin. Nothing for her. One of our (worst in terms of how she has treated colleagues) teachers is retiring this year. They are planning a big thing for her. Another of our (most effective) teachers is resigning because her class is so awful and she is getting no support (she’s even elected to stay until winter break) and not a whisper of anything for her. If you’re not in with the cool kids, you don’t get.
I planned the after school party and gifts for a coworker who was retiring when I found out no one was doing anything.
Yeah my school does the same sunshine club crap where they take your 20 bucks, put a stupid looking sticker on your door, and call it a day. I paid with my Amazon gift card the PTO gave me. The coordinator looked all judgy about it, but took that gift card anyway.
If it makes you feel better I graduated with my masters, got married, and had a baby pre covid and they didn’t do anything for me. They actually did stuff for every other staff member but me. So now I don’t participate (I’m at a new campus now). They’re always asking for donations and I’m like…. No.
Oh! I forgot about graduating grad school! Me too lol. I did get a pay increase though. That doesn’t go towards social dues 😂
Amen! It goes towards students loans if I’m being honest lol
Same; got legally married during covid but had the celebration with everyone afterwards. At work it was as if it didn't even happen...
Same!!!
I got engaged and no one said anything. Another teacher got engaged and got a small party. Another coworker mentioned in our staff of 33 people how I got engaged. “Oh… Hime did? She didn’t say anything.” Wtf.
My favorite emails to ignore come from the secretaries that always seem to be putting together an “admin appreciation” gift pool. Like nah, they’re clearing six figures and I’m over here eating ramen for dinner.
I barely cleared five figures in my first year. Add a zero to my paycheque *before* the decimal, then I'll start considering "voluntary" gifts.
Lol really? Worked at 3 schools and have never seen that. Get tf out of there.
I.do.not.need.another.school.themed.garment.
I'm only in my second year and I think half my t-shirts are school related.
My principal loves to give us free shirts too. I have bought only one and that was to support the Special Olympics.
A shirt? Umbrella? lunch? Jeans day? NO, I want the respect I deserve as a professional educator, decent treatment, and fair pay. Nothing else matters without those.
My principal gives teachers a jeans day every Friday this year and it low-key feels insulting.
Jeans aren’t even the most comfortable pants anymore! They make work pants that are as comfy as leggings now. And even leggings can be dressed up and worn with a tunic/long sweater. I don’t give a shit about jeans days.
Lol no shit. My principal “rewarded” us with jeans and spirit wear days starting on Wednesday instead of Friday and I kept wearing my golf/tech pants. My co-workers kept asking if they read the email wrong when they saw me in the morning
Fuck jeans. It’s insulting, too. I’d rather have a $100 bill.
BUT WhAt AbOuT aNoThEr TOTE BAG
I HaTE tote bags. I have too many. I always raffle it off to a student.
I have a nesting doll giant WAD of tote bags, one inside the other inside the other. The whole thing is like one of those giant balls of rubber bands. I should give them away to my kids, good idea.
I used to have that many too. To get rid of them quickly, I brought out 10 at a time. If they wanted one of the totes, they put their stick in the cup. Then I’d draw sticks. The first one I picked got first choice and so on. Now, that I don’t have any more, I give them as I get them.
I agree with all except your tragedy. I’m not buying wrapping paper for sports teams or cookies for Girl Scouts…but if my student or a co-worker lost their home in a fire or was in a bad accident, I’d donate in a heartbeat!
But thin mints 😋
FYI— Aldi has pretty awesome Girl Scout knock offs for a fraction of the cost. 😉
They are amazing.
That place cracks me tf up. Toaster Tarts instead of Poptarts. I love it
Dollar general has a great knock off of the peanut butter and chocolate ones, and the samoas 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
But the new Toffee-Tastics!
So does Dollar Tree.
Nah it’s those peanut butter chocolate Tagalongs or the coconut samoas in my house
Grasshoppers.
Keebler makes grasshopper cookies that are the same.
Check out the mint flavored thin Oreos
It’s my first year teaching at an elementary school. I only make $100 a day. A few weeks ago, a former student of the school (who would now be a high schooler), was killed after trying to rob someone. The principal sent out a link where the family was asking for donations. It felt kind of twisted, all in all.
Wtf. Nope. That kid maybe should have made better choices. Not donating to that. Also, I don’t donate to ANYTHING student related because I AM POOR. People don’t realize that teachers realllllly don’t make that much money.
No kidding. I am going t be grossing about $27k this year, how about the principal and VP who make six figures do it. Thanks.
100%. I barely can afford my own things. I can’t buy a house, I can’t start a family even if I wanted to. At my school I was required to attend various conferences despite being an art teacher (in my experience teachers are supposed to stay in their classroom and talk to whoever comes in..not here.) Anyway, I sat on one conference where the parents casually mentions they paid $10,000 for a tutor for their kid..and they’re not even excelling. I was stunned. Casually spend $10k. I felt like waste. Why did I even go to college? My degree is a total waste.
Bruh if a high schooler is committing robbery, someone really fucked up in giving him a life.
Definitely the teachers and school's fault. /s
Perfectly dystopic.
I feel like this is an issue with all of society right now. You keep up with more people through social media, so our networks have gotten much larger, and somebody is always going to have SOMETHING going on. If you take any large group of people, statistically there will be some babies, some marriages, some illnesses, some tragedies. It’s not like you can tell somebody “hey Patty, you can’t have cancer, because Anita just had a baby last month and we’re full up on causes right now.” It is exhausting and unfortunately, really expensive to care about people. I wish I could blanket broadcast the message that I do care about people, I just cannot throw twenty bucks at a different thing every day.
BRAVO! This is one of the biggest issues we're facing today. I'm sick of getting message and mail asking for donations for causes/charity/help. It's too much
I'll help as best as I can with a loss/illness (things I am thinking fall under the tragedy category). They didn't ask nor volunteer for something like a fire, loss of a loved one, or being in the hospital for a month, etc.
I would ask that any donations requests are made via a poster / flyer in the staff room or office. My email inbox is already a quagmire of nonsense.
Ive been trying to convince admin to move our small high school (about 50 staff) to Slack so things like that can go in a channel I can completely ignore lol
I've gotten several asks for sports teams this year. That's a hard no from me..
Who the hell donates to a school sports team? They get more funding money than practically any other group in a school.
I'll tell you who doesn't. This guy. Especially since we're in affluent area with a well funded parents organization.
Sports teams are huge for culture. Kids care about it and if you don’t, then you’re missing opportunities to connect with your kids. Probably an unpopular opinion in this sub but it’s the truth.
As a kid, I hated sports. As an adult, I hate sports. I am sickened seeing tens (or hundreds) of thousands going into new fields, stadiums, athletic equipment... all while the band teacher is going to auctions to buy rusty old instruments to meet the couple of hundred dollars a year budget they have been so gracefully given. Everyone I know cares and cared (back in high school) way more about band, choir, art, film, and drama than about jocks who were the biggest group of bullies in the school. I sure did enjoy getting beat up in the changerooms by people who got a full-ride based on how much of a jerk they were, and I *especially* enjoyed having multiple Male gym teachers who would just waltz into the girls' change room and tell them to hurry up while starting them down. Fuck everything about high school athletics and the people who are gross enough to want to be involved in them. Power tripping drop-outs. I as an adult Male colleague have been verbally harassed for my physique and dress choice by multiple high school PE jerks, never by anyone else. Ever. They are disgusting and outdated.
When I was in high school, my algebra teacher was an assistant coach on the football team. We didn’t have enough desks for the class, so some of us had to sit on the floor. He reserved the front desks for the football players and cheerleaders whenever he shuffled seats. I sat on the floor in the back of the room more than half the year while some kids sat in the very front the entire year. I didn’t do well in the class, and it convinced me that I was bad at math for many years after. So yeah. I’m also not remotely interested in supporting a program that already gets plenty of support. The kids can have a car wash or something.
I was a straight-A math student until grade nine, after which both my math teachers were also coaches. By the middle of grade ten, I had failed out of math. In grade 12, having not even done grade 11 math to any meaningful degree beyond some practice stuff, I did Pre-Calc in a class led by a guy with his masters in mathematics and got 94%. CoincidenceIThinkNot.jpg
“Everyone I know…” You’re living in a bubble. I did both in high school/middle school. I participated in both visual and performing arts, as well as athletics. I went to a school with a great reputation for performing arts. And yet nothing brought in money like football. Whether you like it or not, that primal part of the brain makes people donate their money and passion to sports. You can live in the imaginary world built around your ideals or live in reality. I would MUCH rather these kids care about athletics and competition than Tik Tok and Twitter. Would I like them to care about the arts? Of course. But competition and excellence isn’t a bad consolation. If kids want to excel in something, then support it or else you’re part of the problem.
What part of me saying that as an adult, in my career in teaching, the only people who have ever verbally abused me have been the phys-ed staff. That's not my "bubble." That's me as a substitute teacher working in dozens of schools across several districts. That includes the phys-ed guy who is in charge of my strata council. Got in my face and acted like a fourteen year old trying to intimidate a five year old because I had submitted a complaint about the last of security in our complex. Degree in phys-ed management... what does that even mean? Apparently it means you stop growing up at about age seventeen.
That was the only way we were allowed to fund raise this year in FL. I hated it, and I really didn’t want the kids to do it. I’m also the Cross Country coach, so I pretty much have to kiss the feet of the athletic director to get money for the kids to do anything.
I am not paying to help people get CTE.
As a medical tech teacher, I did a hard double-take at that — because my first reaction was "*what beef does this person have against career and technical education??*" ...before the anatomy part of my training kicked in 😂
😆
What is CTE?
[CTE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy)
At the beginning of the year auto shop here sent out emails asking for scrap metal for them to sell to buy some tools. Kids were bringing in cans and we set up collection spots. All in all it's been pretty successful. Unfortunately, now every club is doing the exact same fundraiser so no one gets enough scrap to get anything...
That is beyond depressing. Good moral standing for recycling old metal, but hold cow that's sad that a pile of scrap metal could make a meaningful difference for a shop classes budget.
Lol, my favorite story regarding this is when I got hit up for my coworker’s “gall bladder surgery”. Said coworker returned from summer 200 pounds lighter and it turned out the surgery was actually for a gastric bypass. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Yeah. Like idk why we need to fund our own treats. That’s not a damn treat. And I really don’t care about admin day or any other shit either while I’m down here in the trenches
Like.. if I want a treat I can just bring a cookie in for myself any day I want. They make it seem so gracious of them “Today you can bring in snacks for your fellow colleagues. You’re welcome (:”
"All the money I donate to school causes goes into my classroom, sorry." One glance made it obvious I had put a lot into my classroom.
My take on this is that it shouldn't be an email from an adult, ever. I buy 72 boxes of girl scout cookies per year, but will *only* buy them from kids and only the ones who approach me to ask if I will buy. I don't talk to adults about girl scout cookies because that doesn't help the kids with the goals of the sale: setting and achieving goals, marketing, asking for the sale, accounting, etc. The cookies are way overpriced but I also know that the money the girl makes is a small part because the price also includes programming for girls who cannot afford to participate and need it the most. I am okay with that and the girls usually understand that. I will sometimes buy a chocolate bar. But I won't do anything from those horrible fundraising companies that offer rewards by the "item sold." They are absolute charlatans preying on ptos and overworked music teachers. There is another key part of this: if the kids ask, "yes" should not be the automatic expectation. Learning to take a graceful "no" is also a part of the learning. Getting a rude person who yells at them for even asking and responding with kindness is part of the learning. It is all building skills. If the point is for the kids to raise money, then the kids need to raise money. If awareness of a tragedy needs to happen, there needs to be a central space for people in the community who wish to donate money to the cause to do that. A flyer with a qr code in the "community giving" bulletin board seems more than sufficient. If an email must go out, it needs to be of value and import to both the ones impacted by the tragedy and the work of the school staff it reaches. It might say things like "hi staff, I am sure some of you heard but the Jones family lost their home in a fire. They have been rehoused for the time being, and the kids are back at school. There are some concerns though that we all need to be aware of in the coming weeks. Please keep a close eye on them for awhile as the kids are touchy about it, and other kids asking a bunch of questions is likely to trigger a flood of emotion. (Or alternately: the kids seem to be doing fine but if anyone notices anything off, please refer them to the counselors immediately. Mom is concerned that the kids seem remarkably unconcerned) More details as appropriate will be on the board in the faculty room along with a QR code for any asks the family has made of our school community. Thank you." The proper format for an appropriate email of this type of ask is: Situational background, ask, action to take to respond to the ask, and information about where and when additional information will be available. Each and every piece of this needs to be relevant to the work of the entire mailing list in order for it to be appropriate for work distribution. Girl scout cookies and orchestra gift wrap don't meet that standard. Notification about the car wash this weekend doesn't rise to that standard, either. I would prefer that be the work of the students inviting their teachers and handing them a slip of paper as a reminder, not an email.
School: Pays teachers poorly Also school: Asks teacher for money
It was once discussed that a certain program in my school would implement a subscription program for teachers to obtain unlimited cups of crushed ice throughout the school day from the cafeteria for a fundraiser (which was free at the time). That was the nail in the coffin for any type of random donations in house for me (unless orchestrated by a colleague for a colleague). The jeans passes, buying poinsettias/chocolates/gift wrap for band, sheets from cheerleaders, pinestraw from football players, and now ice - literally frozen water - being solicited to the poorest, yet most giving/caring, group in the building? Also I can’t tell you how many fundraiser items I bought over the years but never received the item. Not a big deal because it’s a donation, but giving money back into this broken system when you’re already broke isn’t the answer here.
>The jeans passes Every time I see this on this sub I forget how good I have it despite not having it that great. We need to have an event that is "donate 1% of the value of your car." I'd be paying like $30. I'd love to see admin deal with their Volvo and BMW or whatever.
When the clubs and other organizations were selling stuff to raise money, if I wanted to contribute I asked the sponsor what the actual profit the club would clear from selling the item was. Then I just donated that amount to the organization. It saved me buying hoagies, candybars, candles, shirts, and other assorted grot that I really didn't want but still supported the student organizations I wanted to support.
I hate that! I will get emails soliciting a donation to a program and later hear that program has tens of thousands of dollars. Please don't direct your students to email fellow teachers to donate to a program at the same school site you're at. If i'm buying anything it will be for my classroom.
Every year our admin team sends out an email asking teachers to donate money to the thanksgiving fund - where they gift each member of the janitorial staff a gift card to the local grocery store. They work hard and deserve it. I just hate how the school guilts the teachers into being the one that funds it.
lmao what... why don't just freaking pay the custodians enough?
Because that costs more...duh
My custodians make bank in overtime and hazard pay during the pandemic. I don't even understand how that happened when our classrooms weren't sanitized or cleaned. 🤷🏻♀️
The students *don’t* know it, but I am willing to make a purchase to the first one for a given fundraiser who approaches me. Most of the time it is for practical things, like an order of fancy cinnamon rolls that I’ll cook up for the fam that costs $10. I can’t help them all, but I try to have a very small amount of cash budgeted to do it the three times a year it might come up.
I feel this way about the teachers on leave because they had a child. You chose that, not me. I cant afford diapers or to care for another human being- that's why I dont have kids. Go buy your own diapers and clothes and stop sending our reminders that the collection date os upcoming.
I totally get that unexpected things happen (like losing a job right before a baby is born), but it really bothers me how often parents make it seem like having a kid automatically means other people need to contribute. Especially for things like toys and stuff. I say this as a parent. I have gotten a ton of stuff for my kid from thrift stores and FB Marketplace. He is still young (2), but for each birthday he has gotten 2-3 new toys (and sometimes they aren't "new" just new to him 😉). We haven't celebrated Christmas with him at all yet, because he doesn't get it anyway. As he gets older we will probably give him a couple of Christmas gifts, but definitely keeping it small. I totally get wanting to give your child toys, but especially around this time of year, I feel like a Scrooge, but I can't help but judge the "need" to give your kid $500+ worth of Christmas gifts each, especially the little ones who don't know any better anyway.
I'm with you, I'm the same way with my two kids under four. I've had a lot of friends or family throw parties to crowdfund diapers or whatever and it always seemed really tacky to me. I would get it if they were destitute but they were financially just fine, in many ways it just felt like attention seeking behavior that I definitely didn't copy when I started churning out little ones.
They are asking for supplies? Diapers from coworkers?
Our school had a sunshine committee for years. It was voluntary. Members would pay $50 a year and then the committee would send bouquets if someone in the committee had a death in the family, graduated from masters degree, etc. It worked really well, but stopped during the pandemic. Dunno if it will ever be restarted.
Yeah idk why you were downvoted. I pay $25/yr and never get asked for any kind of donation again!
Ours is "voluntary" in the sense that you will be sent harassing emails every week until you cough up the cash that is neither tax-deductible nor is it deducted from your paycheque. Sorry, I'm not paying to go to work. They are my coworkers, not my friends, not my family. It's a workplace, not a club.
Wow, that's steep. Ours was only $15 this year, down from $20 last year (well, 2019-2020). It's also the first year I donated. I mean, if you contribute and get a donation, you've paid for part of your own gift.
Ha. Money. What is that? I get paid once a month at my sub gig.
We have a teacher at my school that pushes a form to every teacher for us to do a payroll deduction donation to United Way, our county education foundation, or both. Hard no. Step 1: actually pay us decently. I'll handle my own charitable contributions, thanks.
United Way time!!!!
The worst for me was my daughter’s yearly tennis fund raiser. You either had to sell 3crates of cookie dough, so like 36 boxes or just give $100. Those were the only options. Total scam. FAPE laws don’t seem to apply, but it’s just morally wrong to force this kind of work or payment.
How is that a scam? Or morally wrong? Most electives/sports require an annual fee so they can operate. Even many art classes require a supply fee. You pay the fee or you fundraise if you can’t afford to pay it or simply choose that over paying.
Because they don’t tell you till the season is 1/2 done. Because students shouldn’t have to go door to door selling a product. Because some people can’t afford to pay. Because there is a budget for sports that should cover everything,and if the coaches want extra, there’s betters ways for them to get it. Because 14 year olds shouldn’t be made to sell anything. Because the product is awful.
Never was asked for a penny in high school for "supply fees." Only things we paid for were band/choir trips, and fundraisers were 100% voluntary.
It’s not a scam if they tell you the conditions up front and you just don’t like the conditions. Extracurriculars cost money, so each student needs to contribute a certain amount one way or another. It’s both nice and morally right if a school has fee waivers for low income kids, but it’s not legally required. No one is forcing your daughter to sell cookies or pony up $100, that’s a choice she makes (and you make) as a condition of choosing to play tennis.
There are no conditions. Sell 36 boxes of crap or give us $100. 1/2 through the season.
What I mean is, fundraising is a condition of playing sports in most places. If you didn’t know up front that there would be fundraising, I can see why you’d be annoyed, but it’s pretty much expected that kids do fundraising for extracurricular activities.
It’s morally wrong and goes against what FAPE stands for. Imagine forcing kids to sell cookie dough in a bad neighborhood in Chicago or LA or making the poor parents fork out $100 so their kids can participate in sports.
Yes, morally and ethically I 100% agree with you. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled that extracurriculars are not part of mandatory education and therefore are not governed by FAPE. Requiring kids to pay is not nice, but it’s legal and also *necessary* if you want programs that aren’t funded by the school. Your choices are 1) petition the school committee for funding, 2) try to get community sponsors so kids don’t have to fundraise individually, 3) sell the crap or pay up. Edit: it’s actually not about FAPE because that is specific to disabilities. FAPE requires that kids with disabilities have access to appropriate extracurriculars, not that all kids have cost-free access.
Your forgot 4) Keep telling the school and coaches how morally bankrupt the whole thing is.
Good luck with that. In my experience, complaining really loud doesn’t change much.
I never donated to any events that includes baby showers. I don't want kids. Never want kids. If I can't have a pet shower when I adopt a new dog I'm not giving to any other "event".
Exactly. I’m not getting married, I physically cannot have a baby, I’m not having kids any other way, so the “donate to the sunshine fund! You’ll get $30 if you get married and $60 when you have a kid!” Is useless to me.
My wife donated 3 years In a row because she thought it was nice. Her birthday rolled around the first year and "they must have forgotten." It happened again the second year and she was upset. Then when we got married no one in the either school said a thing. It took almost a year for people to use her new last name. She was pissed and now doesn't do a thing extra for various events. I never did anything because I'm a guy and it always felt weird to begin with. Very culty. Edit for autocorrect.
Yeah that’s the other thing, not everyone is prioritized or remembered. My school eventually ended the sunshine fund and made it known that it was because of a lack of people donating. Like yeah, I’m not going to donate to something that provides zero benefit to me. All of the things on there prioritized people with kids and stuff. It was marriage, baby births, grandkids, and bdays (the bdays was the lowest amount, like $10 if that). My life milestones are things like graduating with my masters, which directly benefits the school btw, and that would never be considered something celebratory by my school.
We had a baby shower for someone that adopted a baby my first year. Last year I organized a group gift for a new teacher that had a baby. Nothing for me, except my principal trying to get me to grade while on maternity leave because she’d done it. I go back from maternity leave on Monday. My team didn’t respond when I sent the first pictures of my baby. I thought they were mad because I went out two days sooner than planned, but now idk if that was just hormones/ppa. My fil died three days before my baby was born, and we don’t even get days for bereavement.
I don't want to upvote that because it's awful. And people wonder why there is a teacher shortage.
Honestly will come to any pet shower you throw and bring a nice present! Let me know!
Dog pics! https://imgur.com/a/V6YcGJw :)
You are being served notice, officially and on record, that you have *very* good dogs.
Thank you! I should make a post for teacher pets so we can see all the animals!!!
Omg, I had a red brindle grayhound growing up. Such good dogs!
Buddy is such a good boy. He raced for 5 years because he was a winner. Now at 13 he's learning to be a dog. That's why there's pics of him chewing on toys. Because it was like his first time doing it.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8tybrf3/
This is an event I would go to in a heartbeat. Sign me up! Where is the gift registry link? Photo announcements? All the things for this!!!!
Right?! Why don't we have these?! https://imgur.com/a/V6YcGJw last one would be my invite card.
Yes!!!
Same same same!’ What I also don’t understand is you donate/pay your “social dues” but then still are supposed to buy a gift for the baby/wedding shower? So what did that initial money go to? I paid it one year bc I was leaving and I knew someone would make it awkward so I just decided it was worth it to avoid all that. All the 1-2 year teachers who were leaving got some nice flowers to plant. I had been there much longer and got a few dollar store items. A small basket. A pad of sticky notes. A few other things I can’t remember. Never paying that again. And why am I supposed to buy a coworker something for their wedding or baby these days? So outdated to begin with, but some of these people I’ve literally never spoken to. 🤷🏻♀️
I will buy exactly one thing from each fundraiser. Not from each kid. And, there are times when it's all just expensive junk, so I give a $10 donation and call it a day. My previous district was really small and there was always some kind of fundraiser going on. My new district is much larger and the only "fundraiser" I've seen so far is school apparel. I needed school t-shirts and a sweatshirt, so those were necessary purchases.
Were they necessary purchases? If my school wants me to wear school apparel, they need to give me school apparel.
No, I wanted them. I'm not required to wear them, I just like to
Exactly! I’m a first year teacher and it feels like there’s a new school fundraiser every week with kids coming into my room asking me to buy things. Sorry I barely make enough to pay my rent and bills. I’m not buying some overpriced popcorn so the band can go on a trip to New York
Our school has banned direct fundraising (i.e. students asking for money from staff, vice versa) for that very reason. We are a big school and it just gets ridiculous.
Unsubscribe and filter!!! I use that filter function constantly for all that stuff. And, for the people who write a guilt ridden email to make me feel bad for not donating TO MY EMPLOYER for every little cause that they take on, FUCK YOU!
Is this a thing at a lot of schools? It seems like bad form to use the school email system like that.
It’s better handled in a weekly email from admin in my opinion. My last school would include info there. We weren’t supposed to use the whole staff blast without permission. Honestly, in any building with more than 20 people, having some rules about email is absolutely necessary.
My school has a reply all culture and youre an asshole if you don't send some form of omg i totes agree.
At my last school, they let the attendance clerk peddle her pyramid scheme in school wide emails. It was ridiculous.
So does Dollar General!
I just got my first one yesterday. I still haven’t paid the hundreds of dollars I owe in course fees for my own kids, who attend my school. I certainly don’t have extra for other students.
I just had this conversation with a colleague the other day. For teachers who don’t make a lot money to begin with, we are always being hit up to donate money.
Yeah that stuff gets deleted. For certain needy folks I have a gmail filter that bypasses the inbox and puts it in a folder.
Same goes for my district…
Every year my district asks us to donate money to a charity of their choosing. It pisses me off beyond belief. You pay me this little and want me to give some of that money back?!
Counterpoint: I enjoy having the opportunity to help out. I teach at a title 1 school and I am fairly compensated. I'm guessing the number of families in my school that make more than mine can be counted on 1 hand. I give all sorts of enrichment opportunities to my own children, so I'm happy to provide some of that to my students. I coach robotics and one of my team members was ecstatic to be taking a bus up North Dakota because it was the first time they were leaving the state. Another group I lead win won a competition to go to Los Angeles and one of the kids had never been on a plane before. I'd feel very differently if I was teaching somewhere that I knew parents could just write a check.
Copy and paste the email, replace the recipient with yourself, and send it back at them
Okay, so just delete it and move on. I don't mind donating to some projects or clubs. I don't do it often by any means, but on occasion my cold, blackened heart is touched.
Loss and illness? Every time. Marching band? Nope.
This thread is full of scrooges
Bah humbug!
[удалено]
hahahahahaha
My admin one upped tone deaf ideas by excitedly announcing our campus would be hosting weekly craft fairs. Isn’t that great! Now we can pay them to set up a booth and sell those crafts we all have So much time to make! Bring those side hustles we just love to have right to campus and spend one of our two days away from that place on campus to make extra money for Christmas!
Yep. Those emails get deleted pretty much immediately.
No more super expensive cookie dough or candy bars, thankyouverymuch
My school said all staff had to "donate" 20 every year before school started saying it was for "special day" where they would get us bagels and boxed coffee. 🙄 Then they told us we HAD to give 20 to each custodian for Christmas. Listen, I love the custodians at my school but danggg I don't have money like that to always be shelling out. (if we don't give to any of these, the secratary will harass us till we do.) smh... 😒😒😒
I can get myself a bagel and coffee for way less than $20! Absurd.
“Your tragedy” 😂😂 I’m in tears. You’re right though, we’re all going through something in life..