The middle school my child attends has a cooking class with no money for groceries, so the teacher puts out a regular plea for donations. She'll need $1,000 to do all the lessons she'd like to teach on making healthy meals. My third grader's teacher has a classroom with no pencil sharpener. Hers broke and when she asked the school's maintenance department to replace it she was told there are none in the supply closet and none are coming in this cash-strapped budget year.

I know a lot of parents who give generously to their school's supply funds. They know they are getting a bargain with a "free" public school when it's a good one. But many resent the idea of being hit up to supply paper, toner and pencils for a class that has none.

How do you feel about being asked to donate basics instead of the extras needed in your child's classroom? And rather than just griping about it, what's the solution?

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

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