Today's blog is brought to you by my grumpy side. She showed up when I awoke this morning and she stayed with me much of the day. I hadn't seen much of her in a while, but she brought her funky self back around today.
So, today is a little rambling about a pet peeve I have...school fund raisers.
Don't get me wrong. I did a little school fund raising in my day. Once a year we had a magazine and cassette tape drive...yes, I do believe it was pre-CD when we were doing this little fund raiser. For all I know, it may have included 8-track tapes. But that was our one fund raiser for the year. We were not expected to go door-to-door multiple times a year to support every activity offered by our school.
The schools in our district have been open for 7 days so far this school year, and already I have had 2 people ring my doorbell in an attempt to get me to support the schools. As a tax payer, I thought that I was already doing that. And as a homeschooling taxpayer, I gladly support other people's children's education in part (through our taxes), and our children's education in full (through my husband's take home pay).
I don't begrudge paying taxes to benefit the schools in our community because good schools and education benefit everyone in the community. But I do grow weary of being asked time and time again to financially support the schools above and beyond our fair share of taxes. And I grow weary of dreading opening my door because I'll again be faced with the decision to "support" or not.
Maybe the truth of it is I'm just a little jealous. Maybe I'll come up with a great name for our school and and try to raise some funds.
But, I guess I'll just politely say "no thank you" yet again the next time a young person rings my doorbell and asks me to support their school activities through buying cookie dough, citrus, pizza coupons, entertainment books or wrapping paper. I'll remind myself that they are not the ones who are coming up with all these ideas.
Who knows, maybe I'll even buy something so these poor kids can get home and do their homework instead of working to keep the schools afloat.
I'm not a fan of them either. But here's the approach I take. As long as it isn't something ridiculous, I will buy from the first person to come to my door (or from a friend's child, if that situation were to arise). Then, when other children come knocking, I can honestly without hesitation tell them that unfortunately, someone beat him/her to our door. I have bought a candy bar ... nothing else yet. I would also probably only buy something that I thought was of value to me (like Rebekah's school selling bulbs - not a bad idea) or if I really wanted to support the child's activity, such as band or a sports team. I find coming up with a policy helps make it easier to handle.
ReplyDeleteStacie,
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone in your feelings about these fundraisers! I will admit, if the child is selling chocolate of any kind and is POLITE, I do buy from them...lol.
Seriously though, you're right, our taxes are supporting the schools!
Good post.
If it's something I really do want, then I will still go ahead and buy it.
ReplyDeleteBut I am very surprised by the sheer volume of fund raisers the schools do in these first weeks of school.