Show me the money! (yes, this title embarrasses me)

Apparently a lot of cities/states reimburse their teachers for classroom supplies every year. Teachers in Florida, for example, are upset that their allotment has decreased to $200, when last year it was $269. I think that teachers in New York City are being reimbursed for $150 worth of supplies this year (again, a decrease from last year).

So far, I’ve spent about $230 on school supplies, and I’m going out shopping again tonight, where I will probably double that amount. How much with Baltimore reimburse me? That’s right, $0.

To be honest, I’m not that bitter about it. I live and breathe teaching, and since I don’t have a family or anyone/thing to take care of (besides, of course, my cute cute cute guinea pig, Hamlet), I don’t really have a lot to spend money on. I mean, I’m trying to save up to buy a house, and I should probably start saving for a new car (a Honda Fit, please?). So yeah, maybe I’m a little bit bitter -- because I DO live and breathe teaching, but I also am trying (please note the trying there) to have a life too. I want my classroom to be a great environment for my kids, and I try to use DonorsChoose as much as possible to make that happen, but it would be really nice if Maryland cared enough about education to give teachers some money to work with. I can’t even imagine how much money English teachers spend setting up a classroom library.

Last year, when I signed on to teach in Baltimore, new teachers were told that we were going to be given $200 for classroom supplies. That never happened. At least we finally got the laptops which were promised, and then un-promised, and then finally re-promised and given to us in April. Of course, this was after I bought my MacBook (but I can’t regret that… because once you go Mac you never go back… it’s true).

Anyway, I went to my classroom today to drop off some stuff that I bought and to get a head start on setting up my room. Setting up a room takes approximately FOREVER, or at least it did last year. I made a list (of course) for myself of all the things I need to get done, and it takes up an entire sheet of 8.5x11 paper, and I write small! Blech. I don’t know why I’m complaining though, I’m secretly really excited about this. I AM SO EXCITED TO START MY SECOND YEAR! AHH!!