In the Wichita school district, supplies must be really tight

by Bob Weeks on March 22, 2009

On the front lines in Wichita KS (Blake West on Blake’s Blog at the Kansas National Education Association)

This post describes West’s visit to Hamilton Middle School in Wichita, where, because of an architectural issue, students have to attend classes in a different building.

He writes “all of the educators forced to leave their old classrooms were not allowed to reenter their old building to retrieve ANY of their teaching supplies (many purchased at their personal expense.) … Most amazing to me was the tremendously positive attitude of the educators. They actually shouted for joy when United Teachers of Wichita President Paul Babich brought each member a ream of paper to help them survive the shortages.”

Two questions:

With $13,000 to spend each year per pupil, why do teachers have to spend their own personal money on supplies?

Does the Wichita school district really have to rely on the teachers union for supplies such as paper?

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Tagged as: Kansas National Education Association, KNEA, Wichita and Kansas schools

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