A rant from another teacher in a different distract.

Life is crap all over. And while I could have written this, I did not. I just stole it.
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Actually, this year, we signed our contracts without knowing our pay and how many days we would work, exactly :) [and they still do not know] And I signed that contract immediately because not everyone got one.

I know most other professions are being hit hard right now and many other professions work long hours and have to do crappy things at times with little reward. I know many people can't find work and many would be glad to have my job. Trust me, I know.

But this is reality:
When you walk into my classroom, the student desks, teacher desk, computer, closet, text books, and white board are provided by the school.

I bought the curtains and rods that cover the two windows because no coverings are provided by the school.

The school provided the bulletin board and the base paper to cover it. The border and everything else on it are provided by me.

The whiteboard is provided by the county. The markers and erasers are provided by me. We use several boxes of markers throughout the year.

The storage cabinet is provided by the school, but the book shelves are mine. Everything in the cabinet and on the shelves was purchased by me or handed down to me by other teachers. This is hundreds of dollars of supplies and materials.

Anything on the walls, including the clock, was purchased by me.

Almost everything on and in my desk was purchased by me except the computer and one notebook. (In the past, we have been given some limited basic supplies a couple of times a year such as staples, paper clips, construction paper, but not last year, and I doubt this year)

Last year, half of the computer paper I used was purchased by me. This year, I don't know if I will get any. I don't know if I will have any copies for the copy machine. I don't think I will get a printer cartridge and mine is almost gone.

The school provides the text books, if there are any, but they are not very useful. I am teaching two subjects and we will use the texts books at times, but at least half of the time they are not useful for what I am teaching. We don't have enough books to issue to each student so we have a class set. Sometimes we don't even have enough for a whole class set so students share. I doubt I will have a teacher's edition. I purchased $150.oo of books this summer to fill the gaps that the texts do not cover. These are reproducible books and copies still need to be made for the students.

I have an LCD projector, that I purchased, but no screen. I don't have an over-head projector. I don't have a TV. I could bring tv/vcr from home but the school can not provide a cart or anything to put it on.

I can check one from the library on occasion, when available.

The school pencil sharpener no longer works so I provide pencil sharpeners.

I go through over 1000 pens and pencils every year that I provide to students. I go through many packs of paper each year that I supply for students. I give binders, folders, lunch money, rewards, tissues, band aids, erasers, hand sanitizer, glue sticks, scissors, colored pencils, and many more

I do have access to library resources, limited internet, and help from other teachers and staff, but some of this staff has been cut for next year.

I am still expected to teach the same state standards, whether or not they provide me with any materials to teach it. My job performance is measured by data and whether or not my students meet a certain score on certain tests, no matter what score they had in the past. In the future, my salary could even be affected by this data. I am still expected to modify my plans to meet a variety of needs of students, with my own resources. I have countless other duties and standards to meet that are not reduced in any way by the state budget cuts. The one area that has been cut is athletics so I no longer have a certain number of days that I am required to work at pm/Sat sporting events.

Yes, I know that people taught a lot more with a lot less in the past and still do in many parts of the world, but we have sooo many other requirements placed on us, we can't do that. We can't just teach from a book. Plus, our students are not the same as they were 50 or 100 years ago. You can't give them a primer and put them in a desk and expect them to work until recess checking in occasionally.