Well, when residents do not want pay the taxes to fund schools, we have to do something to fund the teaching our future generations of laborers, doctors, engineers, etc. Our district is going to sell advertising on the side of school buses, just like public buses. Some are horrified. To that I say, ask to pay more in property taxes rather than less and we won''t need to beg and borrow money. Two schools need new roofs, one has a mold infestation, and by law we need an elevator in another. But our funding was cut by 12% and we should probably still heat the school for the kiddies.
I think the teacher in the article is very clever, he is doing what he can in order to have paper. I used to teach in a district where I got 2 reams a year. But I had 23 kids and 4 textbooks for them to share. I spend about 15% of my salary that year on supplies for the classroom. Not decorations, but pencils, books, the butcher gave me a roll of paper for making maps, begging and borrowing has become part of the teaching load. Oh, and teaching many of the things that parents no longer care to work on.
Don''t judge the teacher, or the schools. Unless of course you regularly donate your time and money to your local elementary, middle, and high Schools and encourage ballot initiatives to increase property taxes that fund the schools.