Never Felt I Was Qualified to Homeschool but...

...if my public school isn't smart enough to budget for something as basic as Toilet Paper, then how can I rely on them to properly educate my kids? When I saw this article, my reaction was, "Seriously?"

Retail - Back to School? Bring Your Own Toilet Paper - CNBC#comments_top

Then my second thought was, if I was living in a town that required kids to BYOTP (Buy Your Own Toilet Paper for those not familiar with acronyms), I would want to see the school district's financial statements for the past 5 years and get a look at the revised budet for the 2010-2011 school year. I suspect the budget is available, but not the financial statements or if the financial statements are available, they are probably fudged in some way. And for all I know, my town might be a BYOTP town, since my kids aren't in the public school system yet.

Of course I know we are in a recession, likely one of the worst of my lifetime. But I'm not going to ask my employer to buy my toilet paper. That is ridiculous. My employer pays me what they pay me, and I budget for toilet paper, and that may mean I need to cut out the beer or find a way to earn more money. I don't want to hear any whining about how difficult that would be in this economy either. If everyone just gives up, the economy certainly won't get better. It's as simple as that. Not easy, but simple.

I wouldn't expect my school district to supply everything. The article mentions kids being required to bring hand sanitizer. Well, I used good ol' fashioned soap and water at school and remained reasonably healthy. I see hand sanitizer as a personal item that is not necessary, and therefore I would not expect my school system to supply it or require it. The article also mentioned disinfectant wipes (Clorox or Lysol wipes), which I see as a convenience item. Schools can use disinfectant spray to kill germs and remove grime stuck to surfaces with dampened paper towels - the brown, rough industrial grade paper towels found in most public restrooms. The school can reduce the number of paper towels used, by installing those annoying hand dryers in the restrooms. This might cost more in the short-term but save money in the long-term.

And don't large organizations, public or private, get bulk discounts on consumable items?

Anywho, based on the article, these decisions are made by local governments at least, which gives parents options such as, moving to a different town, taking their dissatisfaction up with the local governments face-to-face or voluntarily making personal donations. Again, I can hear all the whining, "But Frazzled, these solutions are hard for many people." The solutions are hard but simple.

Honestly, I was hesitant to post this because I try to avoid any topic that is even remotely political. But this is a parenting blog and this topic effects parents. And no matter where you sit on the political fence, I feel most reasonable people can agree when schools, public or private, can't afford something as basic as toilet paper, this is a problem. Where we disagree may be in the solutions - none of which are easy, but most of which are simple.