They have come up with the most insane fund raising idea. I kid you not. Hopefully you agree with me and do not think I am the insane one.
You see, we pay property taxes. A large portion goes to education.
We go to school fundraiser auctions and spend more money to support our kids school.
We have bought magazines, wrapping paper, books, candy, kitchen storage containers and many more items that had it not been a school fundraiser, I would not have spent money to own.
I supply Kleenex, baby wipes, pencils, paper, crayons, and any other item they call on me to send in with one of my 3 children.
This one takes the prize though. Next Wednesday they are trying something new.
It offends me.
I have been writing this blog in my head from the moment I heard the plan. I have half a mind to complain.
Next Wednesday they are having Art Gallery Night. What is that and why does it have me so fired up? I know, that is what you must be thinking. Let me explain it to you.
They will be selling the kids art work. Yes, the art work my kids have been working on. They want the parents to come and look at the kids art displayed in an art gallery setting and then buy it! Yes, I need to buy my kids art if I would like to have the pleasure of displaying on my fridge. Apparently only the parents can buy their own kids art-good news in case any of mine are a future Picasso. So of course we will have our usual "white horse" donors to the rescue. The rest of us will try to scrape up some cash to buy some of the art my 3 kids have created. What about the kids who's parents cannot attend? What about the parents like us that have multiple kids, how do you buy it all? How crushing will it be if I did not buy the piece that they thought was beautiful? The biggest question I have--what will they do with the unsold merchandise? Will it make its way home sooner or later?
I suppose if we were not in a economic meltdown perhaps it may be just a slightly bad idea. Considering that people are loosing jobs and homes, maybe this is terrible idea.
To make matters worse, they are totally pumping the kids up like Barry Bonds on 'roids. "It will be so cool that your parents can buy your art." They even had a period over a week where they did art every single day. I love it when my kids bring home special things they have made me. I feel like it is one of the glimmers in this public school machine I look forward to. I feel bad for the parents that cannot at this time "afford" the luxury of owning their kids art. My husband said I should not go out of protest. The problem is that will hurt my kids more then the school.
So next Wednesday, my checkbook & I will be attending "Art Night". Hopefully I will buy all their favorite pieces!
At least they were nice enough to let the kids pick one item to take home free of charge...kind of a teaser I suppose. The first one is free, the next one will cost ya! Geez!
10 comments:
The worst..seriously they pimp out our children!!!
Oh my. I had never heard about that happening before.
I hope you're able to get your kid's art!
I agree with you Tamis - BAD idea! What happens to the child whose art work doesn't get purchased because, as you said, some parents can't afford it, and it has no meaning to the other parents! YIKES!
That is an AWFUL idea. Talk about setting kids up to fail. Can't they sell something they're less emotionally invested in?
That is un-freaking-believeable! That really gets me fired up. They have absolutely no right to make money off the kids talents. Could there possibly be a lawsuit there somewhere? Is it stated anywhere that anything created by the kids is the property of the school? That money should go to the KIDS if anywhere, and screw the idea that it is going "back" to the kids in the form of school activities, etc. BULL! I was an artistic kid in school and if my teachers would have told me that I had to make art for my parents to BUY, I would have created the ugliest piece of crap they had ever seen. No WAY would I do that. (Of course, I probably would not have understood then, but still!) AND my family would have been one of the poor ones that wouldn't have been able to afford it and probably couldn't attend anyway because my dad worked so much and mom was sick! OOOOOH! Sorry for the long rant, but that just really peeves me. One more reason to homeschool. Public school is RIDICULOUS (ever listen to Neal Boortz? He has a thing or two to say about Public School too) Good luck with all this. I hope you let your voice be heard. Somebody needs to stand up and say something before things go WAAY too far! ok, I am done =)
Let me get this right,
You supply the paper-check
You supply the medium-check
You supply the kid-check, check
You supply the check-Triple Check
Makes perfect sense to me! Seriously, you need to lodge a complaint with the principal...this is just short of lunacy. If you aren't happy with his answer, take it to your school board representative. Don't stop until you feel this is justified as a good thing.
Whatever happened to good old $1 candy bars? Now that was a win-win situation!
Debbie
Oh wow. I think perhaps now I HAVE heard it all. Whose idea was this? Maybe next they can hold your kids CAPTIVE and you can pay RANSOM to get them back! But what will they do with all the kids whose parents can't afford the ransom? Maybe they'll have them make more art for sale??
Be brave. Explain to your kids what is wrong with this program and go to the principal. Good Luck!
WHAT?!?
This is silly. I mean, the PTA is getting a bit carried away. How is this fun exactly? Hmmmm...
And the lesson is... what?
Good luck with this. Let us know how it turns out!
Oh...that would make me crazy! Sounds like a lose/lose situation for everyone. You are in a tough spot...but I agree, you have to go!
Let us know how it turns out!
You women have left me feeling like I was right! Thanks for that. It just seems wrong to put any price on our kids projects like this. Then you will have the kids saying "my parents paid $$$ for my art". You will have other kids feeling dejected because their art was not as valuable. It is ridiculous to associate any currency amount with school art projects.
The entire reason for this fundraising project---to restock the art-room. Tell me it isn't so next year they can sell me more of my kids art.
UGHHH! I will buy it but I won't be happy about it, and now I am not afraid to say why!
Thanks ladies, You rock!
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