Making a list and hoping to check it off Making a list and hoping to check it off (December 10, 2004)

Teachers create wish-lists of school supplies to guide holiday gift-giving students

by Alexandria Rocha

Gone are the days when pupils treated their teachers with coffee mugs, chocolates and apples for the holidays.

Hello to the era of shrinking school budgets and teachers in desperate need of basic classroom supplies. A new trend in Palo Alto has teachers using the age-old "wish list" as a format to solicit their most needed materials in place of Santa's goodies.

Topping their lists this year: Kleenex and electric pencil sharpeners.

"How many bottles of perfume can a teacher manage? Or how many boxes of note cards? We wanted parents to start thinking about the wish lists as ideas for Christmas gifts," said Carol Scott, who recently developed Jordan Middle School's online format.

Teacher "wish lists" are nothing new, but how they are marketed is a new twist.

In the past, the lists were more like quiet pleas teachers made at their own discretion. At Ohlone Elementary School, for example, teachers post small lists in their classrooms. Jordan Middle School teacher Jeanie Forte used to write a few items at the bottom of a parent handout on back-to-school night.

In the past few years, as the local school district cinched its spending belt, the "wish lists" started to slowly move into the spotlight.

Jordan Middle School is leading the pack in savvy ways teachers can promote their wish lists. New this year, the school's PTA has sponsored "Just Buy It," an online program that allows parents to search a list of teachers' names and wish-list items. The program is linked to PayPal and with a few clicks of the mouse, money can be donated with a credit card or through a checking account.

Scott, the mother of a Jordan eighth-grader and a marketing professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the mastermind behind Just Buy It. She said the monetary donations made online go toward the PTA who then forward it to the teacher. With Just Buy It, the donations can be recorded as a tax deductible contribution to the PTA, Scott said.

From board games and staplers to hand puppets and recycling containers, the requests stretch across many subjects and fill various niches of learning.

Juana Briones Elementary School PTA showcased teachers' lists at its annual auction. At Nixon, parents can find a "My Favorite Things" binder in the front office. Fairmeadow asks each family to donate $25 toward school supplies.

"Since we have made budget reductions two years in a row, folks are feeling pretty squeezed," said Marilyn Cook, assistant superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District.

It's not a secret, either, that teachers spend their own cash for simple items, as well as more expensive equipment to enhance their programs. According to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, teachers spent an average of $458 on school supplies in the 2003-'04 year.

In Palo Alto, that number is easily double.

"I am personally shocked at how much people spend. Friends of mine spend $1,000. That's probably in the middle. It's rewards, prizes, taking pictures of the kids and having it developed," said Steve Sabbag, president of the local teachers' union. "A lot of people hope the money would kick back in from the school, but no one expects it."

Making matters worse, California legislators this year suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500 for school supplies. A $250 federal tax deduction for teachers also expired this year.

The adjustment has not come without some growing pains among those in the local educational community.

"This isn't something Palo Alto is accustomed to doing, asking for supplies," said Bella Almanzan, Escondido's secretary. "Someone just can't come to you and say, 'I've run out of red construction paper,' and you say, 'Don't worry, I'll have it for you tomorrow.' You have to pre-plan now."

Since Jordan's lists have gone online, teachers have received an overwhelming response.

"I think the difference with online wish lists is that the whole school community sees it, not just the parents of my students," Forte said. "So the possibility for someone seeing it and saying, 'I can help with that,' is much greater."
Jeanie Forte is a theater reviewer for the Weekly.

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