Teachers get flack for being smart about district budget cuts
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, School
When the times get tough, it's time to get creative. When administrators slashed his school's supply budget, California Calculus teacher Tom Farber found himself in a bind. All of his quizzes, tests, and exams added up to $500 in copying expenses -- almost $200 over his allotted paper budget. A "cool" teacher might have forgotten about tests, but a good one would find a way to give his students the practice they'd need to prepare for their Advanced Placement exams at the year's end. Instead of dropping tests, Farber started soliciting sponsors. He sold ads on test papers for $10-$30, depending on the size of the test, and soon he had his copying expenses covered.
The educator's innovative solution has not been without controversy. While most of the sponsorships are simply inspirational messages paid for by parents, about a third of them come from local businesses. Some are worried that this could spark an over-commercialization of schools, but Farber says it's just a logical solution. "We're expected to do more with less," he says. For most teachers, that means paying for over-budget expenses out of pocket -- to the tune of about $430 per year, according to the National Education Association.
I don't see why Farber's approach would be controversial. It's hardly fair to expect teachers -- arguably America's most underpaid professionals -- to spend their own money on fundamentally necessary supplies, and it's not like schools haven't welcomed child-directed marketing in plenty of other arenas already.
I remember sitting through 15-minute Channel One News broadcasts every day at school, half of which time was dedicated to acne medication advertisements, because the school had a deal with the news program wherein we got free televisions in every classroom as long as the school showed the program each day. No one raised a stink about that. In addition to the daily dose of acne ads from Channel One, I spent most of my school days carrying around boxes of candy that I was expected to sell to raise money for one department or another.
The bottom line is that schools don't have enough money, ever. Farber's test-sponsorship idea is creative and harmless, and inconveniences no one (unlike Channel One, which stole 15 minutes of our education time each day, or selling candy, which was a giant pain and just encouraged poor nutrition). And let's give these calculus students a little credit, please. They are high school upperclassmen -- practically adults. If they can't handle a line or two of advertising messages, how can we expect them to handle life after high school? Don't we have better things to complain about than a teacher who is willing to go the extra mile to do his job well?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-02-2008 @ 6:42PM
TXteacher said...
This situation is just a symptom of what teachers are facing today. In today's educational world where very little can be controlled, the constant that can be controlled is the classroom teacher. I teach in a state that has no teacher unions and I have always been happy about that, but since No Child Left Behind was dropped in our laps, I am changing my mind. They have extended our work day, added extra classes, and taken our "planning period" so that we will collaborate. As result, after getting to school earlier than I ever have and going home later than ever ( common day is 6:15 am to 5:00 pm), I now also have to take work home with me in the evenings and on the weekends. Of course that would be the weekends that I have free when I am not taking my turn at Saturday school. I have over 20 years of teaching under my belt and I love teaching more than anyone could possibly imagine, but I have just about had my fill.
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12-02-2008 @ 7:47PM
jeano said...
I know what you mean, TXTeacher. I taught 27 years and I couldn't tell you how much I spent out of my own pocket because our budgets were so incredibly small. I even bought books for the library when I became librarian. After 27 years and little or no support or understanding from the public, I decided to retire early. 5 years later I still dream of teaching ideas and wake up and write them down. I miss the kids, but not all the tons of paperwork.
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12-03-2008 @ 6:33AM
Huck said...
It is really going too far when the school runs out of food for the students. I think what this teacher done is great. Should not be necessary, but great. I had to buy a case of toilet paper for an elementary school because there were not any on the premises. No, it didn't kill me. But I expect better from our school systems. If you can't handle the overload of students, perhaps you should close the doors to immigration for a good while. The government is letting the world in. We can't support the world.
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12-03-2008 @ 1:58PM
QuitComplaining said...
Just another lazy teacher in my opinion. What ever happened to writing questions on the blackboard (now dry erase board) and letting the students do the work on their own paper? I am sure that loose leaf paper is less expensive than the paper the school uses for copying per sheet (90 cents for 250 sheets at walmart). He doesn't want to take the time to write out the questions? Instead he wants to waste even more time, and of course complain about all that time he wastes, collecting and typing in the "ads", depositing/cashing checks, keeping track of funds...on and on...
How about just doing the job he chose to do...try using all of that extra time teaching and lesson planning...maybe our kids will learn a little more from him. Everyone has been feeling the crunch when it comes to budgets and money, but this one doesn't have to do anything to fix his issue, just stop printing and copying and start writing and using what you have.
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12-03-2008 @ 9:02PM
TXteacher said...
QuitComplaining, you are living in a seriously delusional world. That idea that you accuse him of being "Just another lazy teacher..." means you have no concept in the least of what is actually asked of teacher's in today's classroom. I do not know in what generation you were matriculated, but today teachers are required to do so much more than just toss out some information and hope most of the kids "get it". It take me much to long to explain in depth everthing that is asked of us, but let me just start by saying that every child in our classes that is special ed., second language, 504 qualified, pregnant, or gifted and talented must have special modifications or special lessons prepared for them. I had a class of 32 in which 18 had to have modifications for EVERY piece of work they did. That was just one of my 6 classes, each having 30 or more students in it. And let me tell you that is merely one of the many, many things
I am sick to death of a public that has so many expectations and so little respect for the job that the public school educators do. You may not appreciate the job we do now, but wait until no one of any quality wants to teach any longer because we are tired of being everyone's whipping boy!
12-07-2008 @ 8:30PM
Megan said...
Are you saying he should write his tests and quizzes out on the blackboard???? Students would cheat While his back was turned writing.
When students use their own paper, it's too hard to see if they've written a cheat sheet or examples on their "blank" notebook paper.
12-03-2008 @ 3:55PM
lee said...
My son asked a teacher for a copy of his spelling words and got yelled at. He was told," I'm NOT spending my money on copying the words. GO FIND IT!"
So I marched in there and complained to the vice principal and then contacted the Superintendant. I told them that I have volunteered for fundraisers, spent $ on book fairs, drove around town to collect donations for the silent auction, etc...And do they want a check from me so he can have a copy? They said I didn't have to write a check.
YET, this elementary school found the money to put a huge plasma tv, popcorn machine, weekly coffee & donuts in the teacher's lounge!!! Nice, huh??
My son got an apology from the teacher that yelled. End of story.
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12-03-2008 @ 4:46PM
just another guy said...
Something doesn't add up to me. For instance, a district that I know of *cough* pays .49 cents (that is, $0.0049) per black/white copy on their copiers. At that rate, $316 would equal 64,489 pages, or 386 pages per student. $500 would equal over 102,040 pages, or 611 pages per student! How many tests and quizzes does this teacher need to give in order to print out over 611 pages per student? For just one class!!
While I credit the teacher for being creative, I think it defeats the purpose of using up mass amounts of paper.
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