4 packs of 500 count printer paper, 6 packs of 10 count #2 pencils, and enough Kleenex to fight 10 years of common colds: just a few things on your child’s 2nd grade school supply list. Why? Now while curriculum's are beginning to become more rigorous in grade school, it’s very hard to believe that your 7 year old will use enough paper on their “This Summer I..” dissertation to warrant 1500 sheets of paper.  

More and more parents (and their pockets) are starting to feel the repercussions of teachers planning ahead and stocking supplies for future classes. Whether the reason for this is lack of funding for classrooms, or as simple as a teacher using their platform to their advantage; I think we can all agree that it is a flaw in our education system.  With school supply lists becoming more outrageous each year, as a parent, you can often feel as if you are being forced to purchase more supplies than your child will ever use in a year. By creating a surplus of supplies, schools and teachers are able to pass those supplies along to a student who may not have the supplies necessary to succeed. By looking at the situation this way, one can feel a little bit better about their ludicrous purchase with Crayola.  

However, while we continue to fight the battle of making sure each student is prepared for their first day of class, it cannot become the responsibility of parents to provide supplies to students who are not their own.