What did you learn in school today?
By RK Finnell
@irishidid (8687)
United States
August 21, 2009 4:23pm CST
The families of welfare and food stamp recipients are getting an extra $200 to help pay for school supplies in New York. A portion of the funds has been given by George Soros.
Great idea, help the kids with their educational needs. We all know a better prepared student is in a far better position than one who doesn't have the needed supplies.
Apparently, though, the money is being spent on anything and everything except what it was intended for. Cigarettes, beer, televisions, and other little goodies.
I know welfare families who live responsibly. They take care of their kids and don't live beyond their means. I can even overlook bits of cheating for these people because I see them doing what they can to take care of their children while they are struggling to get themselves out of the system.
Kudos to the parents who are spending the money wisely, but let's not forget where this money is coming from. Our future generations.
http://www.9wsyr.com/content/news/real_deal/story/200-per-child-for-school-supplies-The-Real-Deal/5K-xR9qIFUGXyHpwWtrEQw.cspx
5 responses
@MistyWood (349)
•
22 Aug 09
OK - I am a teacher in the UK and we have a welfare system that also supports families when the parents are out of work or are on low incomes. We even have one income support that is given to EVERY parent per child regardless of income...
Now the question is "Is this money spent on the kids"... the answer I fear, all too often is NO!
Why?
Well:
If I want the kids to have coloured pens or pencils... I supply them!
If I want the kids to have pens to write with ... I supply them!
If I want the kids to have books to write in... I supply them!
Hummm.... the overall picture is that many parents feel it is the school's duty to supply all that is needed for thier kids to have an education...
But the next message is then "What message is this passing onto the kids?" That one I feel is another discussion...
Misty
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My online articles can be found here - http://mistysarticlesonline.blogspot.com/
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
22 Aug 09
We also have this same problem here. I can't blame it all on the parents because much of the money is spent giving the superintendent and others fancy offices with expensive furniture, while the children do without.
It seems every year the kids are called on to sell more and more candies,etc. to pay for things the school district should be supplying.
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
23 Aug 09
The same thing goes on here, Misty. The teachers often supply things for the classroom and it comes out of their own pocket.
I don't mind buying what the kids are selling depending on what it is going for. One elementary school my daughter attended sold lollipops for the yearly fifth grade trip to space camp. I didn't mind buying those.
Luckily for me my school supply buying days are past with my youngest now 18. When my oldest was starting school $5.00 bought everything she needed. With the last one it was quite a bit more.
@MistyWood (349)
•
23 Aug 09
Well in the UK, we don't have fancy chairs for teachers - we have the same as the kids...
We don't have the kids do fundraising... I guess schools in the UK are different from ones in the USA in that respect.
The one thing we have that will be very different is "specalist status" that means a school gets extra funding for one subject area because they have proven themselves to be outstanding in that area. They are also responsible for community action and education in that specalised area.
I am not saying that I blame the parents - I just wish that they would provide for their kids so that the kids just have to learn... I provide the equipment out of my own salary... I can't claim it back and unfortunately as many kids don't respect things that are not theirs it gets broken ;o(
I have purchased additional equipment for my classroom this year at a cost of $70-100....
Misty
@Latrivia (2878)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I'm very critical of the FoodStamp program. I work as a cashier, and I watch what people buy with their foodstamps. A lot of that money goes to waste. Candy, soda, and $40 cuts of meat are not necessary for one's nutritional needs. Never mind the fact that there are a lot of people out there SELLING their foodstamps for whatever cash they can get.
I would love to see the food stamp program revamped so that it's run more like the WIC program - where you can cover your families basic nutritional needs without buying name brand foods, high-dollar cuts of meat, or $50 worth of candy and soda. It's a shame how people are so happy in shamelessly squandering their hand-outs.
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I couldn't agree with you more. I've been on food stamps and I know it is possible to eat healthy. Our cabinets were always full of foods that had good nutritional value. My kids grew up on fresh fruits and vegetables. We had our snacks, but the cart was never full of them and I would always opt for healthy homemade snacks over the packaged ones.
If I'm going to pay $40 for meat, I'm going to get enough for several meals, not just one. One is better to hunt out a meat market rather than buy from a grocery store. I do have to say it is very difficult to find even the worst cuts at a good price. I can remember buying rib steaks for less than a dollar. Now, they cost almost $10.
My son now works at a grocery store and he always keeps me informed on what's on sale. It is up to people to make the right choices.
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
22 Aug 09
Coupons are great but they don't cover much in the way of fresh foods. I never buy prepackaged foods because of health problems and finding coupons for my type of diet is just about impossible.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
22 Aug 09
Sorry to butt in but I had to because I have something to say lol
When I worked as a cashier I had some woman yelling at me because she couldn't buy dog food with her food stamps. So after she realized that there wasn't nothing I could do about the government policy she sent her kid to go get 50 pounds of hamburger, "my dog will eat good this week"
As for the brand name thing, I am the coupon queen and I go to the store and never buy generic, in a typical week I get $150 worth of groceries and pay less that $20 last week when I went I got I believe it was $125 for $15 and had a $10 mail in rebate so I paid $5 total. So name brand and generic really has nothing to do with it, it's how you shop.
@Koriana (302)
• United States
23 Aug 09
Ya know, whenever I read through discussions like this, I always run across people who are griping about what the poor is doing with THEIR resources. Ya, I realize that some of these poor are getting some of THEIR resources from gov't programs that are using YOUR taxmoney. But, well, look at the healthcare debate, in there it doesn't seem to matter if you are even able to get healthcare, someone is griping at ya about how what you are doing is costing them money!!
Simply put....
DEPENDENCY=SERVITUDE!
You will always be answerable to those who you find yourself dependent on!
The US is a nation that claims to hold FREEDOM as it's main core value. Only, that freedom can only exist if the people have an acceptable level of independence.
Many of those who are recieving aide DO HAVE jobs....those jobs just don't pay enough for them to support their families. and, well, there are a whole slew of others out there that need the help but just don't qualify. So, should we really be just continually extending these programs to bring more and more people into this dependent state (into servitude), or should we be trying to work some of the kinks out of our economic system, so that those working, no matter how worthless you seem to think the job is, are getting paid the money that they need? Of course, we can also be working to reduce the cost of living to something that is more manageable!
But, we are losing our freedom here a little at a time with each person who falls into the dependency trap!
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
23 Aug 09
Over the years I've had to deal with degrees of the system being a single mother with two children, one with disabilities. I got out without any help and while I'm still poor enough to qualify for some assistance, I'd die first.
The whole system is set up for failure and while their goal may be to shame you into independence, it fails because it makes you feel as though you aren't worthy of any better.
How someone would choose to stay in a system that treats them as less than human, I could never understand, but I guess some think little of themselves.
@Koriana (302)
• United States
24 Aug 09
I don't even think that their goal is to shame anyone into independence. I think it's more in line with providing the cheapest labor force they can to the business sector, while still being able to maintain the highest profit margins for those businesses as they can.
@Koriana (302)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I raised my three kids in NY. Ya know, it's nice that SOME parents are getting a little extra money for their school supplies....ya know, that ones that are also getting a little extra to help them out with their food, a little extra to help them out with their rent, a little extra to help them out with their medical bills....and on and on...
But, well, tell ya something, that's $600 for the three kids!! I don't beleive there was a time while we were up there that we could have pulled together that kind of money to buy OUR KIDS what they needed, although we were continually hearing the polywogs in albany griping about how they had to raise this tax, or that tax, to cover the costs of the medicare, medicaid, not to mention their employees healthcare!
It's nice to help the poor, but when we help them out to the extent that they are living better than the ones paying the tab, well...
Is that really that good?
But, of course, the economy needs stimulating, and well.....if the taxpayers aren't willing enough to stimulate, well, there's always the option of taking money from them and giving it to someone who is more willing I guess.
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
22 Aug 09
The welfare system has been screwed up for years. Make a dollar more and you no longer qualify for day care help. Make over $200 and there goes your health care. It is no wonder that so many don't do anything.
I was in the system when my children were small, mainly because of a child with disabilities. When the time came that she no longer needed my constant care, I began to pull away from the system and get out of it. I don't understand why people would want to be in a system for a lifetime that treats you as less than human.
@Koriana (302)
• United States
22 Aug 09
When my kids were real little, my husband drove truck and we lived a little while in Indiana. I got a minimum wage job and finding childcare that I could afford wasn't really much of a problem. Then we moved to NY, and well, the state childcare subsidies kicked in. We didn't qualify for them, and the gov't was paying something like $3 a head, so well, you couldn't find much in the line of childcare for much less than that. I've been in the screen printing business for about six years now, and I still don't make nine dollars an hour. Well, neither me or my husband could see any sanity in me working, and drawing money from his paycheck to cover the cost of childcare, so, I just stayed home!! It wasn't that we didn't need the money, it was just that we needed every penny we made and couldn't find any extra out of my husband's paycheck to subsidize my job!
Would the employers be enjoying such a wide selection of applicants to chose from if it wasn't for that subsidy? I don't think so.
Would childcare cost as much as it does if the gov't wasn't subsidizing? I don't think so!!
Twice my husband and me had to separate, just so I could take care of some major health problem that popped up! I would propose that the current system is set up to manufacture poor people! They refuse to help you, when only a small amount of money is necessary, so, things just get worse, till well, they end up having to help you with everything!
@uchihamadaraXXX (117)
• Philippines
22 Aug 09
Well, today, i just learned one thing, taking physical education is hard! i easily got tired and frustrated when i am doing something on P.E
