Great News PSD, it's a Blue Light Special!

Attention K-Mart Shoppers.
Attention K-Mart Shoppers.


We have a special going on right now in school supplies. A ten pack of red pens for only 28 cents!

Oooh... smoother ink! Sounds fancy!

If you aren't already laughing, allow me to let you in on a little joke.  A major concern of teachers that has been highlighted during recent contract negotiations, has been the lack of adequate supplies.  PSD claimed teachers had everything they needed; teachers claimed they were spending hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to supply their classrooms with basic essentials.

As the two sides worked to find a reasonable compromise, one of the proposals that PSD put forth to the teachers union outlined exactly what supplies PSD was willing to buy for teachers.  On the list of supplies the district promised to teachers were red pens. But, they didn't just say they would provide teachers with red pens. They were actually quite specific about how many red pens each teacher would receive.  How many you ask?

Bob, tell them what they've won!

This pen and a whole, fabulous eraser could be yours!

Congratulations teachers, you've just won a year's supply of red pens! That's right each of you will receive one full red pen to use any way you like, all year long. This prize package is valued at 2.8 cents! Congratulations!!!!!

So our ever generous district administrators were willing to give each teacher one red pen. One. I know money is tight, and we shouldn't waste, but c'mon! One? Take a peek back at the picture above. Target is currently selling ten packs of red pens for 28 cents. That means you could go today and buy what the district claims is a year's supply of red pens for EVERY teacher in the district (all 1,100 of them) for about $30.00.

Unfortunately nobody is buying these pens. Teachers still don't have a contract (despite countless promises, and despite teachers returning to work in good faith). So no one knows who's job it is to buy red pens. Teachers are trapped in limbo waiting to know what supplies will be provided. They could go out and buy their own (like they do most years), but they been told for weeks that they would get a list of available supplies soon. So it would be irresponsible to spend money on something they are about to get anyway. It makes more sense to save their money and use it for things they can't get through the district. But without a contract, no one knows what those things are. And so we wait. Once again our children's education is on hold while we wait for the district to step up and do what's right.  

Want to help your teachers out? Email them today and ask what they need.  I hear there's a sale at Target.   ;)