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[Dalek]

A teacher's solution to buy school supplies for her classroom: Panhandling

As a public school third-grade teacher, Teresa Danks has grown accustomed to getting creative when it comes to providing supplies for her classroom.

She hits up yard sales all summer. Weekends are devoted to thrift stores. Almost daily, she scrolls through online sales and secondhand websites.

So when Danks's husband joked over breakfast last Tuesday about how she could resort to begging — as she was venting her frustration over recent cuts to Oklahoma's education budget — she didn't immediately brush him off.

”He's like, ‘Well, I guess you could make a sign, hit the streets like a panhandler,'" Danks said. He then laughed it off; she didn't. ”I thought, you know, that might just generate a buzz on Facebook to help me get the supplies I need," she told The Washington Post on Monday.

Danks said she had never panhandled before and wanted to act quickly before she changed her mind. After picking up a poster board from a nearby QuikTrip, she laid it on the hood of her car outside and scrawled a message: ”Teacher Needs School Supplies! Anything Helps. Thank You." At the bottom, she added a smiley face.

As Danks was finishing the poster, a man walked out of the gas station, noticed what she was writing and handed her a $20 bill.

”I want to support you in what you're doing," she said he told her. That was just the beginning, she added.

”I told my husband, I made my sign," Danks said. ”Now get me out there quickly before I lose my nerve."

He dropped her off at a nearby highway overpass, at the end of an exit to a local casino. Danks would later remember being ”a nervous wreck" but, within 10 minutes, she had collected $32. One person stopped to hand her a bottle of water. Another wanted to tell her how much her own teachers had meant to her.

”I went from being nervous and awkward to being overwhelmed, not only with the small donations of cash but just the words of encouragement," Danks said.

Danks left the intersection soon afterward but returned after a local news station wanted her to reenact the panhandling. Even in the 10 minutes it took to film the segment, more drivers stopped. In all, Danks collected $126 that day. While that may not seem like a lot to some people, Danks said any amount helps. She told local outlets she makes $35,000 a year, a figure not out of line with many of her colleagues' salaries, according to public records.

”We are given pencils and paper, and we are given textbooks ... (but) it goes beyond pencils and paper," she said. Danks estimates she spends about $2,000 of her own money per school year buying materials for her students to go through their project-based curriculum. ”It might be paint and glitter, it might be batteries if we're talking about science projects, or water bottles for the volcanoes. ... We're constantly replenishing and we're trying to do these things week after week."

She added: ”All this stuff, it costs money. I want the proper tools to do my job well. I wouldn't ask somebody to build my house with a spoon."

Oklahoma already ranks near the bottom among the 50 states when it comes to per-pupil funding, spending about $8,000 per student — only Arizona, Idaho and Utah spend less, according to federal data. And even as the nation has recovered from the Great Recession since 2008, Oklahoma's education spending has fallen 14 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Years of tax cuts and falling oil prices have hit this energy state hard, slicing away hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue and leaving Oklahoma schools among the nation's most cash-strapped.

The budget crunch is so extreme that schools have had to move beyond traditional cost-cutting measures, like letting class sizes rise and cutting art and foreign-language classes. Now, in nearly 1 in 5 Oklahoma school districts, students are going to class just four days a week — triple the number in 2015 and four times as many as in 2013.

The four-day week is meant to help districts shave off a few dollars that they would otherwise spend on utilities and transportation. But even more important, it's become a key teacher recruitment tool in a state that, by any measure, offers among the worst pay in the country. The state has not raised teachers' salaries since 2008, and the average salary now stands at $45,276, far lower than the national average of $58,353, according to the National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

”We are given pencils and paper, and we are given textbooks ... (but) it goes beyond pencils and paper," she said. Danks estimates she spends about $2,000 of her own money per school year buying materials for her students to go through their project-based curriculum. ”It might be paint and glitter, it might be batteries if we're talking about science projects, or water bottles for the volcanoes. ... We're constantly replenishing and we're trying to do these things week after week."

The fact that teachers purchasing their own supplies is an accepted practice in this country shows how anti-education we've become. Shameful.

 

[collige]

I can't imagine not getting a pay raise in 9 fucking years. Education in this country is an embarassment.

 

[G0523]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgml1HcseTQ

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Yea i remember my mom purchasing supplies for her kindergarten class in the 80's and 90's. Sad some things aint changed...

 

[Chesskid1]

there was a guy in GAF's B/S/T looking to buy cheap childrens book and he said he was a teacher and it was for his classroom i believe

 

[Charles Brandon]

The school my wife works at in London have asked the teachers to add items they need to an amazon wish list, which will be circulated to the parents. Other schools are flat out asking for cash. It's a disgrace.

 

[Greddleok]

Kids in Oklahoma go to school 4 days a week?

America, what the fuck?

 

[I-hate-u]

Can we force the presidency to the likes of Bill Gates who actually care about education to sort these problems?

Never mind the low salaries, her paying out of pocket for project based items for the students is insane to me.

 

[Akuun]

She told local outlets she makes $35,000 a year, a figure not out of line with many of her colleagues’ salaries, according to public records.

This is fucking awfully low pay.

 

[Roland_Gunner]

This is fucking awfully low pay.

Obviously teachers should be paid more but you can live pretty well in rural Oklahoma on $35K per year.

 

[joe2187]

isnt that called a fundraiser?

 

[B_Spooky13]

Our education system in a nutshell

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Kids in Oklahoma go to school 4 days a week?

America, what the fuck?

Can't afford it when we gave all the money to the local oil and gas companies. Oh and renovation of gov buildings. Lawsuits pertaining to the 10 commandments. And etc etc etc

Point being, education just isnt important. Gotta keep the sheep dumb.

 

[Raptomex]

The education system in this country needs a serious overhaul.

 

[OceanBlue]

Republicans were right. Why have government when local charities can provide?

 

[Syrus]

My wife teaches in oklahoma. She makes 32000. Its disgusting and she spends aloy on her class.

Dvds, posters , pamphlets. Indian posters etc for oklahoma history

 

[Elandyll]

The fact that teachers purchasing their own supplies is an accepted practice in this country shows how anti-education we've become. Shameful.

Coming from France I know it kinda shocked the hell out of me when my wife (HS teacher) explained to me it's a widely accepted practice (she has to do it to).
Was much worse in AZ, but still now in Maryland even.

Now compare the level of education and licenses required to be an educator in public schools in the US and the salaries, and teachers are near bottom of the barrel.

To be a teacher in public schools in the US, you have to be a Saint, a Masochist, or be a bad apple and plan to stop doing any effort once you reach tenure in some districts.

 

[HStallion]

I know its totally unrealistic but I'd love to see us take even a quarter of our military spending and refocus on things like education and health care. I know crazy town.

 

[Paskil]

I can't imagine not getting a pay raise in 9 fucking years. Education in this country is an embarassment.

I am a state employee (not in OK) and have seen one 1% raise in my six years. I have hopped between jobs a few times and have nearly doubled what I started at in state service, but the position I am in now warrants to pay increase. That is the only way to get a raise and it isn't a raise, it's applying for and starting a new position.

My mother was also a state employee and she didn't see a single raise in her final 8-10 years of employment prior to retirement (I started right around when she retired).

 

[Tuck]

Now, in nearly 1 in 5 Oklahoma school districts, students are going to class just four days a week — triple the number in 2015 and four times as many as in 2013.

wdf how is there not an uproar over that?

 

[TimeLike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgml1HcseTQ

No context? Staying blue.

 

[theWB27]

I know its totally unrealistic but I'd love to see us take even a quarter of our military spending and refocus on things like education and health care. I know crazy town.

Even that 55 billion the president wanted to go towards the already outlandish military budget could work wonders.

 

[frontovik]

The wonders of the American system. The next generation will likely pale in comparison for education in contrast to other nations.

 

[PandaPandaPanda]

and people wonder why most of the highly skilled labor jobs in 'MURICA are going to foreigners/immigrants. The worst part is things will get even worse with this administration

 

[Latvian Hitman]

Can't afford it when we gave all the money to the local oil and gas companies. Oh and renovation of gov buildings. Lawsuits pertaining to the 10 commandments. And etc etc etc

Point being, education just isnt important. Gotta keep the sheep dumb.

Yep. Oklahoma actually cut taxes for oil & gas during the start of the fracking boom. Then, when the oil bust hit in 2014, tax revenue fell off a cliff. And, of course, once you cut the taxes, there's no possible way to raise them again with a Republican-controlled state house. So, end result- a 4-day school week and teachers panhandling to pay for supplies...

 

[Tom Nook]

Sad.

"Gotta build that wall"......

 

[t0va]

The wonders of the American system. The next generation will likely pale in comparison for education in contrast to other nations.

We've already paled for decades. It is why Trump is our president.

 

[Brandon F]

One of the most blood red states in the nation has some of the worst education spending? Why I never!

 

[Plinko]

I'm a teacher and I couldn't even afford to put $2000 of my own money into this like she is. Good for her.

By all means, America--keep building that military.

 

[NoName999]

Kids in Oklahoma go to school 4 days a week?

America, what the fuck?

Those tax cuts for the rich aren't gonna pay themselves, yo

 

[Dirtyshubb]

We are seeing the same thing here in the UK, many schools are having to run fundraisers or sending requests to parents because they simply don't have enough money for supplies. One teacher even posted that their new budget didn't have any funds for text books.

 

[ClosingADoor]

4 day school weeks. And how does that work for a family with working parents? What the hell.

 

[Omegasquash]

The fact that teachers purchasing their own supplies is an accepted practice in this country shows how anti-education we've become. Shameful.

Can confirm. Around that figure gets spend annually by my wife, a teacher. In Massachusetts. Some of it, in fairness, is reimbursed. I've just come to accept it.

Yea i remember my mom purchasing supplies for her kindergarten class in the 80's and 90's. Sad some things aint changed...

Not looking like it'll change anytime soon either, I'm afraid.

This is fucking awfully low pay.

Not shocking for Oklahoma, but I know districts vary. So for example a 5th grade starting teacher in one town could make more, or less, than a 5th grade teacher in another town, where the two have the same credentials, GPA, age, you name it.

 

[DeployThatPizza]

This is fucking awfully low pay.

Not that shocking for most teachers. Most teachers that taught at the high school I went to made around that figure.

 

[shandy706]

My girlfriend is a teacher. They get $250 towards supplies for the entire year... That's it.

 

[AlanzTalon]

4 day school weeks. And how does that work for a family with working parents? What the hell.

bootstraps. Where are yours?

-this was sarcasm. I'm married to a teacher. she has 10 years experience and a masters degree. If you took her salary as an hourly rate, she makes significantly less than the interns at my company.

 

[cartographer]

wdf how is there not an uproar over that?

There is. I hear people talk about it every day. We've had a few threads about it. Our governor is one of the least popular in the US.

Ultimately though you don't hear about it more outside Oklahoma because people don't care all that much.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Liberals are on the side of education. Education = Evil.

 

[ShyMel]

This is so sad to see. Teachers are among some of the most important people in society. They shouldn't be forced to spend their own money on basic school supplies. Personally I know during high school, one of my teachers told us that they hadn't gotten raises in five years or so.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Liberals are on the side of education. Education = Evil.

Mainstream media accusing parents of not investing enough in their children's education is the real problem!

 

[Acinixys]

This is fucking awfully low pay.

All teachers get paid shit

In every country

 

[WascallyWabbit]

It's ridiculous that they've come to this, I just sent some money to a teacher friend in Seattle area of all places that did a GoFundMe for school supplies in her class room so it's not just the red states necessarily

Good for her to show that kind of commitment, but it should never have to be like this

 

[Pilgrimzero]

I remember when I found out my step-son doesn't have textbooks. They leave them in the class for others to use.

I remember having a locker full of books I had to carry around and take home for homework assignments.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

The fact that teachers purchasing their own supplies is an accepted practice in this country shows how anti-education we've become. Shameful.

Agreed. What should be damn near the top in our priorities as a country is somehow damn near bottom.

My friend is a teacher here in Illinois, and she spends a ton of her own money for her 2nd grade class too. And she makes hardly anything.

 

[Zoe]

I remember when I found out my step-son doesn't have textbooks. They leave them in the class for others to use.

I remember having a locker full of books I had to carry around and take home for homework assignments.

What grade?

Depending on the structure of the class, I can see why it wouldn't be necessary to take them home. Especially with concerns over the physical strain the kids have to bear--even in the 90's I know of some elementaries that were making kids use rolling luggage instead of backpacks.

 

[G0523]

No context? Staying blue.

It's a clip from Married...with Children where Peg and Marcy encounter a homeless person and try to help him get a job. It's like 30 seconds and still very relevant today and to this topic.

 

[Autodidact]

An Oklahoma teacher, I can confirm that Republicans have ruined this state.

Can also confirm that my master's degree will give me a pitiful bump in salary.

 

[Neifirst]

Can we force the presidency to the likes of Bill Gates who actually care about education to sort these problems?

Never mind the low salaries, her paying out of pocket for project based items for the students is insane to me.

You mean the same Bill Gates (foundation) that supported immediate adoption of common core AND immediate accountability of classroom teachers for assessments tied to said standards? Yeah, no thanks.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Our education system is so fucked. Why it isn't a top priority for our government is baffling. Gotta spend them bucks on military and dumb shit. Teachers should never have to buy supplies themselves to give their students the full curriculum.