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There are certain items the students are asked to bring for the classroom like tissues, antibacterial, paper towels, etc. But, actual school supplies are bought individually. There's a suggested list for each school at all of the local grocery/box stores.

@sunny: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-education-spending-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-developed-world-2012-1

We are one of the top nations for k12 education spending, but we are in the bottom third for math.

If any of you are feeling particularly generous, there's an amazing site to donate to public schools, and you can find a classroom to support in your neighborhood (or close by, at least). It's called donorschoose.org, and I used it when I was teaching. You can specify the kind of classroom you want to help (% of free and reduced lunch, etc.) and find projects that teachers need help funding. Some of them are really basic (books for the classroom), and others are a bit more of a reach. I got a few projects funded through there and it was amazing. Also, if you are a big enough donor, or the last donor on a project, you get thank you letters and photos from the classroom. There's someone in charge of verifying the projects and making sure there's follow-through on the teacher's end.

@Skadi: I want to state upfront that I'm not trying to change your mind at all, just clarifying what I said. When you said it was a difference of "curriculum & education style" I think you're referring to my statement "Other countries have vastly different schooling systems & education philosphies which plays a bigger part than money I think." Systems and philosophies are not the same thing at all as curriculum and education styles. So, we don't agree there.

Also, I looked at the spending link you gave us. That's a very interesting test and gives us a lot of information. Switzerland and Norway outranked the US in Math, yet they spend *more* money than the United States on education. The problem I have with using graphics and quick skims of global testing is that it doesn't give a full picture. Like @Mrs. Lion: said, there are many, many factors at play when it comes to education (such as home life, size of a countries population, school systems, etc). I think it's unfair to say the US is spending too much money on things that don't work - although I think it's perfectly fair to say that there are some things in the US educational system that aren't working and our impacting our students - it's just more complex than money.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I agree. I'm just happy they give us anything at all. Hahaha. Fortunately, my kids are older, mostly juniors and seniors, many who work after school, so they are generally respectful of the supplies and try to be as mindful as possible when using them because they understand the cost.

@looch: Schools spend money on everything from teacher/administrator/staff salaries, to school lunches, to clerks to do all the attendance/ordering paperwork, to extra curricular activities (financing a school orchestra or school band is extremely expensive, as some instruments are expensive--like a baritone--but a band isn't complete without it) like sports, to maintenance men and vehicles.

Just think about a typical school with a track and field--the school pays for the employees and the equipment (trucks, lawmowers, all kinds of other stuff I'm not thinking of) to maintain the courts and tracks and fields.

Schools have to pay for lunch stuff, and electricity, and maintenance and repairs on the building, plus cleaning staff. Schools pay bills for recycling and trash removal. And then of course, schools pay massive amounts for curriculum, textbooks, online databases, and equipment ranging from pens and pencils, to student desks, to computers, to smart tablets. Schools have to pay for administrators to evaluate teachers and clerks to process and organize the evaluations and certificates of the teachers.

Then there are the bus systems/staffing for that/ storage for busses/gas, etc.

The list goes on, but it's no different than running a corporation staffed by adults--many expenses are incurred.

Yep, which is not big deal to me since it's about $30 extra a year. My sister is a teacher a puts so much of her own money into her classroom...and she can barely afford anything for herself so I keep that in mind when buying those items.

Not necessarily stock, but they ask for donations. If you go to local Targets they even have shopping lists and some teachers also have their own in their classrooms.