Dear Matzav Inbox,
As summer draws to a close and the new school year approaches, there is a familiar dread that creeps into the hearts of many parents—the overwhelming burden of purchasing school supplies. What should be a simple task has turned into a financial nightmare, one that seems to grow more burdensome every year.
I recently found myself in the middle of a crowded store, clutching a list that stretched longer than my arm, wondering why on earth my child needed five different colored binders, four sets of markers, three packs of highlighters, and a partridge in a pear tree! The list went on and on: specialty graph paper, obscure workbooks, glue sticks in bulk as if we were opening our own arts and crafts store, and myriad other items that left me shaking my head in disbelief.
And what’s more infuriating? Half of these supplies don’t even end up being used! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened my child’s backpack at the end of the year to find pristine, untouched notebooks, or that extra pack of markers that somehow managed to make it through the year without a single cap being removed. I’m left with piles of unused materials that I was pressured into buying because, heaven forbid, my child shows up without them on the first day of school.
Then, there are the books. Every year, we’re handed a list of textbooks to purchase, often brand new editions because the one we bought last year has magically become obsolete. Why? Did math change overnight? Did history rewrite itself? But we comply, forking over hundreds of dollars for books that are often only skimmed through, or worse, barely touched at all. I’ve seen my child struggle through massive textbooks only to find that the teacher relied mostly on photocopied handouts. Those glossy, expensive pages? They might as well be paperweights.
I remember one year, being asked to provide a specific brand of colored pencils because they were supposedly better for “learning outcomes.” I’m no educator, but I fail to see how the brand of colored pencils could possibly influence my child’s ability to succeed in school.
We are already stretched thin by tuition and the other expenses that come with raising children. The additional burden of overpriced, unnecessary school supplies is not just frustrating—it’s outrageous. Schools need to seriously reevaluate their supply lists and consider the financial strain they are putting on parents. We want to support our children’s chinuch, but there is a limit to how much we can be expected to spend on items that will gather dust in a drawer.
It’s time for a change. Let’s cut the unnecessary fluff, focus on what’s truly needed, and maybe, just maybe, let parents breathe a little easier at the start of the school year.
Sincerely,
A Parent in the School Supplies Aisle
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