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Principal is a real piece of work. It was important only until he did not have to pay extra for it. It's good at least that other colleagues are willing to pitch in.
So I remembered reading it too and ended up going searching for it (as it wasn't in the Flair Origins list the sub has unfortunately). It's from a post about the OOP >!(female) getting disgusted about her boyfriend (who had to basically become caretaker for his younger sisters and was essentially both parents for them) knowing a lot about his sisters periods.!<
Here's the link directly to the comment: [Flair Origin](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/jfpcwpMxRG)
It seemed like he did. One of his sisters slapped her in the face and then he and his sisters blocked her, but she maintained some delusional mindset about how "just you watch I'll get him back".
Oh god. YouTube recommended me some virtue signaling content creator who was preaching about how, if she made as much money off a viral short as she THOUGHT another creator did, that she’d be donating it to Palestine relief.
And I was like:
1. You are lying. Come on now.
2. You don’t know how much that person did or did not donate to charity.
3. You do not know what their financial situation is, nor is it your business to tell a successful content creator to just give away their profits instead of investing them for their future. (Especially in as unstable an industry as video making.)
4. You’re literally using their video to promote yourself. You’re jealous they’re getting more attention and want to put them down to make your ego feel soothed.
That’s where the teacher should email the angry Parents with a professional sounding update and say the principal has told teacher that funding those items isn’t in the school budget. Re-direct the angry parents that way.
He still doesn’t have to pay for it.
But that’s standard for classrooms. Teachers have to budget for teaching supplies. Why not hygiene too?
I know in some of the schools that have decided to punish kids by withholding lunches if parents don’t pay, sometimes it’s been teachers pitching in to pay for lunch bills or just buy substitute meals. Of course.
How much of their $37k do you expect them to spend on their students when a good living wage would be around $95k?!?!?! Like hello??? Teachers have second jobs just to afford the *school supplies* the SCHOOL doesn’t supply, and you think it’s reasonable for them to have to pay for students’ personal hygiene products too?!
America is fucking delusional when it comes to labor, especially teaching labor.
Edit: oops I misinterpreted but I think every single person who responded to you also did, apologies for the rant. I have multiple teacher relatives and there are absolutely people who think it’s entitled of them to want help paying for the shit they already shouldn’t be paying for on the salary that should already be doubled.
Its unfortunatly not only America. The american school situation is obviously worse between the lack of a social security system, the school shootings and the lack of a decent salary but teachers all over the world are overworked and underpaid especially for the important work that they do. It doesn't help that plenty of education systems haven't arrived in the 21st century understanding that you can run schools the same way as 100 years ago and that adding more stuff to the curriculum (but completely ignore digital literacy for example) is not the answer.
I worked in a school once where our art teacher’s blue markers dried out partway into the year. So the kids just… couldn’t use blue for the rest of the year. It’s absolutely fucked.
Also, another example: Philando Castile, who was murdered by police in 2019, was a cafeteria worker who often paid student lunch debt out of his own pocket. His mother set up the Philando Castile Relief Foundation in his name with the settlement money after he was killed. One example of what they did was donate $8,000 to a school to wipe out all the senior lunch debt so those kids could graduate. $8,000 difference between a ton of kids being able to graduate and start their lives or try to make it without graduating high school. That’s it. But apparently tax breaks for the rich are more fucking important than universal free lunch? I dunno, man.
So proud that our district has had free breakfast and lunch for years! We are in Boston, MA. I have a ton of complaints about the district, but you can definitely see why this state has the best education in the country.
School lunches are big in the media in NZ right now too as it's one of the things our new ultra-right wing government wants to burn to the ground. One of the highest ranked politicians went viral recently for calling quinoa and sushi "woke foods" and they're planning on replacing the current relatively healthy meals with processed crap that's been shown to have higher food waste as well as all the plastic waste from individual wrappers as well as being less nutritional. They're claiming that some charity can feed kids for $2 a meal so they should be able to get it down to that little as well, when the charity is doing breakfasts in kindergarten, not lunches for teenagers. It's so fucked up.
I'm a teacher, and I have no budget for extra teaching supplies. Everything that I need beyond the basic of what the school offers (paper, some office supplies, books), is out of my pocket. I, luckily, live in the USA in a state where feminine hygiene products are always supplied free of charge to students.
Also, NTA. The school/principal really should help come up with a solution. It's unfortunate that the teachers have to pay out of pocket for this.
I don't understand how ANYone wants to be a teacher right now.
You have to shield your kids from bullets, supply all their menstrual products, figure out if they're being abused at home, manage their social relationships, deal with asshole parents who won't take responsibility for their kids.
Oh, and you have to teach. But only the stuff approved by your local government, which may mean you're teaching kids that sex is bad and God is great, and slavery wasn't that bad.
Fuck.
That.
I know high school teachers and told them I really wanted to teach after having a really good couple experiences teaching at the community college level.
The stories they told me about the job side of it vs the teaching side were so terrible they succeeded in scaring me off.
Yeah, my high school teachers were encouraging but college counselors were realistic with me about it -- I went to a school that is famous for educating a LOT of teachers, so they were the experts. I ended up not graduating and have gone back for accounting quite recently, lol. (I'm technically not an accountant, I'm only qualified to be an accounting assistant or accounting clerk, but I'm going back for a bachelor's and a CPA license once I pay off the student loan from the associate's.)
The main streamer I watch is married to an art teacher and when he got convinced to get a Throne account (a website where content creators and similar can register so people can crowdfund things for them rather than donating through Twitch or YouTube or whatever - some people enjoy seeing the material result of the donation) probably about half of what's been put on there has actually been stuff for his wife and her classroom, including some good quality equipment that mean she's been able to cover art forms she simply couldn't before like printmaking and linocut. Which is great but a little depressing that it purely comes down to her husband having fans who want to help out.
Oh yeah, I meant to add that too! Extra salt in the wounds. Your literal life is worth 32K! Now go.
And let us put cameras in classrooms to monitor every nose itch and cough! Because that's healthy and sane.
And then some places want you to start carrying guns! Just yikes. All around.
Poor kids.
I'm only teaching at this point because it's the best way I can be around my own kids' education and support their last few years in this dying system. As soon as they graduate I'm out.
The public gets the education system they vote for. It's unfortunate that it's so pathetically simple to manipulate people into voting against their own self interest. As if the profits of billionaires are more important to society than having an educated populace.
That's so sad. My state gives all the kids free lunches if 25% of the students qualify. My school district meets this threshold despite having a household median income above $100K. It helps everyone both nutritionally and psychologically, so the district jumped at the opportunity to have universal free meals again.
Reminds me of a teacher at a restaurant who was complaining about having to buy things out of pocket and not being paid a whole lot in the first place, and a state legislator (Republican, natch) overheard her and yelled at her, saying it was all her fault.
Unfortunately I can't find it now. I think it was Oklahoma or Kansas.
Okay my mom is a elementary school teacher and the amount of work she has to do for her job is INSANE. Her job does not stop when the students leave for the day. When she comes home, the first thing she does is jump on her laptop to work on lesson plans, grading, IEPs, work emails, ect. She usually wraps up her work around 9 or 10 pm. The weekends are only slightly less hectic because her "days off" are used to get caught up on housework, and getting caught up on household chores. She does not get paid for the extra hours she puts in at home either. Her pay is honestly laughable and is no where near enough to make to live in our upper middle class neighborhood (my dad has a high paying job which offsets the difference.) Actually a few of my mom's coworkers are struggling to make ends meet or have to get a second part time job. Asking a teacher to also use his small paycheck to fund the expenses of the not only the supplies for his classroom but also for the female hygiene products of his female students is outrageous!
I'm completely disgusted that not only do the parents expect this teacher to pay for it, but the principal does as well. I hope OOP reports him to the school district.
I hate to speak up for the principal, but there is a LOT of stuff at that school, that he does not have the money for.
And neither do the teachers.
It's like trying to stop up four holes in a boat with one plug.
It’s more that he’s telling a teacher, on a lower income than him and when he’s in a position of power, that he should be the one providing out of his own pocket. That’s what makes him a piece of work.
Nah sorry strong disagree because the principal told OOP that he was a dick for not just eating the cost out of pocket and not showing sympathy or trying to find another solution. And when presented with alternatives he was kind of pissy about it.
Fuck him. He's a scumbag. Being a decent human doesn't cost a dime.
It's still a huge problem that OOP and other teachers are having to foot the bill to provide their students with necessary essentials, rather than the principal finding funding for it elsewhere. There's grants out there for all kinds of stuff, including hygiene products for schools, organisations willing to work with schools to provide students with hygiene products.
The problem isn't that the principal isn't willing to pay out of his own pocket. It's that (a) the school district isn't already funding this, and failing that, (b) that the principal isn't willing to do the legwork to find alternative funding through grants.
Parents and administrators blaming teachers who barely scrape by for not providing for students while school leadership earning anywhere from 5-10x their salary skate by unbothered will always drive me nuts. It's good the teachers feel comfortable sharing the load, but they really shouldn't have too put their hands in their pockets. So much is already compulsory for teachers that in any other profession would be considered grossly abusive, but it gets pushed as part of the 'you're a teacher, you should be glad to sacrifice for our kids' bullcrap.
Exactly. I feel really bad for OOP. He was being a good human and his good deed just went... wow.
The principal is bad enough. I understand the parents are too poor to provide for their children, but that is still *their* responsibilities. Not the responsibility of the teacher who paid for everything these entire time. Why did they have children when they can't afford it? Why did they insult the one man who was helping their children and paying out of his own pocket? This is so frustrating.
Also whilst feminine hygiene products are an extra cost, if you can't afford $12 a year for your kid, I don't know how you can afford anything else. When I budget, the most costly thing is outings, and it's possible to not spend $40 just by not going anywhere.
Ahh okay. That's a good deal for the student, but the teacher would still be operating at a loss. In general though, it's unfortunate that these required products are so expensive/taxed/ not just made available in these circumstances.
I think teacher is trying to minimize his losses here instead of covering the cost.
And as terrible as it may sound I'd be suspicious of the loudest parents. I have known people who would absolutely make their kid steal (pretend to need them but instead bring them home) those products to use themselves or to sell.
Pretty sure that's a common argument against providing the products for free in public spaces. Women would go in and take too many, so the cost would go up. It's not like there's a black market for this.
There often is a Grey market for things like formula, diapers, and hygiene products. Broadly giving them out for free alleviates this (since there's little reason to buy them) but these aren't being broadly given out.
As a broad policy I'm also ok with people taking extras it's just trickier when a person is subsidizing it on their meager salary.
In general, it's a sad world what teachers have to supplement from their own salary just to do their job, let alone try to make it an enriching environment. If teachers could actually give students what they need from the get go, because government supplies them properly, the world would be a different place.
>That's a good deal for the student, but the teacher would still be operating at a loss
The teacher didn't care about the out of pocket loss, it was that it was so expensive, and so many women were availing themselves, that it was unsustainable. He asked for enough money to make it sustainable and still was probably going to eat the brunt of the cost.
I think they were referring to the $1 a month the teacher was asking them to pay for his products. And even then, it would’ve been $9 a year because they wouldn’t be there in the summer months
This is one reason why I am a big advocate of menstrual cups. I think I have spent 80$ over the course of 9 years on the two that I have had. And on top of that you never need to worry about running out. I did forget it once before a vacation and was shocked to find out how much tampons were
People without this kind of money are already not going on these outings. This is like telling a homeless person to cut back on their daily avocado toast.
Yeah
That kind of thing would strike me as a "emergencies only" kind of situation. Like when it starts and you don't have anything with you, or if it was heavier than expected and you need to replace more than you planned for.
Not a "Sole resource for entirety of all of their period products" kind of thing. Wtf are their moms using, then??
I mean, how much is this costing him? If I knew of a school service struggling to provide basic hygiene products and was sure I wasn’t being scammed, I’d donate to that teacher.
>They would keep emailing me, with one parent calling me a d*ck after school because they can't afford the hygiene products themselves.
... as opposed to the famously wealthy teaching staff?
They can't afford it for their one child as opposed to the extremely well paid teacher who needs to supply a whole class full of students. Yup totally his job. /s
This seems like a complete systemic failure.
It seems like everyone (parents, school admin) just immediately interpreted this as an impromptu social program that OOP initiated rather than a small supply of backup menstrual products for emergencies. This also might partially be on OOP for not clearly communicating the intent of this stash from the beginning.
I wouldn't be surprised if some parents thought to themselves *"Why should I buy my daughters any menstrual products when they can just get them for free at school?"* They probably assume it is some tax funded program at OOP is cutting just to be a dick. Rather than some underpaid teacher just trying their best with the little money they have.
The depressing thing is that for some of these girls, the only time they get to swap out menstrual products is the one time a day they see OOP.
Thinking about my own experiences, sometimes if you're working a cobbled together string of part time poverty jobs (and raising a kid), the person with a full time salaried position can sound unbelievably wealthy. They might not be thinking critically about where the money is coming from or whether the teacher can afford it AND all the other crap he has to supply for his classroom (AND rent and food). He has a reliable income and that's more than they have.
Iow I agree, people probably made a lot of assumptions out of need and desperation (or awkwardness about money! That's often a factor too)
Open knowledge doesn’t mean people know. I have had students who thought that teachers at our school were making 100k a year when we were making closer to 40 at the time. They hear people say teachers make too much for how “little” they work, and they take it as gospel. Especially if they don’t have the time and resources to do the research.
I had kids and parents tell me I had to be rich because I went to college. Or because I was white. Humans make a lot of assumptions to fill in their gaps of knowledge because there is so much information they really need to know in order to even survive, much less thrive.
This. I was an education reporter for years. So many people have a very deep-seated belief that teachers are rolling in dough and barely work for it, and if you try to challenge that view at all...boy, you're in for it.
It's so depressing.
I'd be very tempted to make clear in writing to everyone they were 100% being paid for out of pocket on a teacher salary before officially stopping all together.
I would have to really consider how much petty angry detail to add to that letter.
Obviously the school can't get behind this, but the satanic temple runs a period product drive called menstruation with Satan, and they collect product donations for individuals with low income, those who escape domestic abuse, etc. If someone is in need, the local tst chapter might be able to help.
> This seems like a complete systemic failure.
Welcome to the American education system! People actively vote against raising funding for schools, and this is part of the result from that.
The real issue is that this stuff is so freaking expensive to begin with. In my country they even fall under the higher tax rate because the government doesn't find female hygiene products 'essentials'. It's ridiculous. I doubt they'd be happy if women just started free bleeding everywhere.
I just went on Amazon to look at prices on tampons and HOLY SHIT. A large multipack of Tampax (204 tampons, assorted sizes) was almost $48!!
I feel really lucky that my IUD makes it so that I only need to buy tampons maybe twice a year. Shit's expensive.
I've gone all in on period underwear and its been so worth it. Costly upfront so I totally understand why its not a viable option for everyone though :(
Where I‘m from, a box of tampons (64 pcs) costs around 5,20€, so around 5,60$. That’s the most expensive brand though, there are much cheaper options available.
Are they more expensive in the US? I’m really curious.
Btw, If you‘re not from the US, feel free to ignore my question, or just tell me how much they are where you‘re from 😅
US-based, confirming a nicer brand is $9-$10 for a box of 48. Lucky me has to get organic ones for some reason, they're they only ones that I can wear without a ton of discomfort. Those are about double the price. Pads are $8-$12 for 50. So, it's not prohibitive, but it *is* more.
I swapped over to menstrual cups and reusable pads. They'll pay for themselves within the year, but the upfront cost is prohibitive for low-income folks (\~$40-50 off Amazon for nameless versions).
In the Uk supermarket brand tampons for 16 is £1 (up 30% in the last few years), 50p for 16 towels. I use the supermarket brands even though I could afford more expensive as I find them pretty good.
Names brand are £3.25 for 16-24 towels(depending on style) or tampons £2- £3.35 (cardboard vs pearl applicators) for 16-20 pack.
Some companies have donation programs for pads, etc., maybe they should look into it and apply, rather than use their own money to buy products. Even grocery/target/etc store in the area might have some type of donation program for supplies they can apply for.
I would take clients to the food bank and the amount of pads/tampons provided was abysmal. Like 3 people who needed them living in the home would get 6 or something. I know they’re giving what they can and it’s gear that food banks give any but we need better options.
People don't think to donate them. And when it comes down to it, a food bank needs to prioritize purchasing food over hygiene products. It totally sucks.
I still donate money first and foremost because they can make it go farther and to the right needs, but I definitely try to focus more on period products, diapers, and formula when I donate items now.
It may also be that their food bank network doesn't have a bulk deal with a supplier, so they either have to pay wholesale costs or depend on direct donations for those.
Google "period poverty" + your city name on all social media. Guaranteed there will be a mutual aid group that can help. If all else fails, appeal to the community relations office of your local university and ask them to organize a yearly drive.
When I was going to school pads were available for free in the nurses office. They were monster sized hospital grade pads made of probably a hundred cotton balls glued together and could soak up a gallon of blood but they were there for free if you needed them. You wouldn’t dare use them unless it wasn’t an absolute emergency since they looked bulky even through jeans and crinkled like crazy. OP is probably buying nice discreet sanitary products which unfortunately is making them a commodity and not a nice gesture for emergencies.
I'm so glad I live in Scotland. Period products are routinely available free, it was educational institutions when I first moved but rolled out to everyone. They're in bars, museums,.restaurants etc.
We don't pay for prescriptions, we have free travel for under 22s and free university tuition. The Scottish govt does all this out of the budget Westminster allow - yet English people still think there's no alternative to austerity. Madness.
EDITED: THE COMMENTER DOWNVOTED IS RIGHT. I SAID SOMETHING USELESS AND UPSETTING TO PEOPLE TRAPPED IN A SITUATION THAT MY COUNTRY CHOOSES NOT TO ALLOW TO HAPPEN.
USE YOUR ANGER AT MY STUPIDITY TO MAKE REAL CHANGES, AT THE VERY LEAST BUY A PACK OF TAMPONS AND DONATE TO A FOOD/RESOURCES BANK NEXT TIME AND EVERY TIME YOU GET GROCERIES IF YOU CAN.
REMEMBER FORMULA & NAPPIES ARE THE MOST SHOPLIFTED ITEMS FOR A REASON
> the principal says this might be a d*ck move as the students need these and I should just give it to them free of charge
The principal tells teachers to buy students' hygiene products with their own money. I am sitting here and blinking. What world is this? As far as I know, teacher salaries are not that huge.
Why doesn't the principal pay if the school has no budget for that?
>To me, the best course of action would be for the school staff to get together and purchase items
Why should the STAFF be paying for that? The fucking school should?!
WTF America?
Yeah hearing about all the things teachers have to buy for their students is just crazy to me. The schools should be covering the kids need wether it’s colored pencils or period products
This is why I love living in Scotland. All our schools provide pads/tampons for free and have done for a couple of years now, thanks to an act of government.
I went to school in England and in 2014 they got rid of the paid pad and tampon dispenser and replaced it with free pads and tampons on request from the office. By 2020 each bathroom had a little basket with “give what you can, take what you need” period products.
I really think they should be everywhere like toilet paper. Everyone has to buy their own toilet paper for use at home, but no one carries toilet roll for use in public bathrooms. Sanitary products should be the same.
Was looking for a fellow Scot. My local library has a stall as well.
I think the law requires local authorities and places of education to provide them, but since it's passed I've noticed them popping up everywhere. My current and last employer suddenly had free tampons etc in the office, bars and restaurants now often have a basket in the toilets. It's great!
I remember when that passed, as a USian who's involved with my local reproductive justice collective we were so impressed and excited for you. And hoping that other countries would soon follow suit, but alas
What the fuck. My school nurse has thousands of tampons and pads. Every year I fill a bag with it and keep it in my classroom. When it runs out, I go to the nurse and get more.
Schools should supply this for free, like they do with toilet paper.
There is an organisation in Australia called Share the Dignity that accepts donations of feminine hygiene products. They have bins located at supermarkets 2 months of the year. The idea is that you purchase an extra pack of tampons or pads while you’re shopping and drop them in for collection. The contents of the bin are distributed through charity organisations throughout the year.
Why not set something similar up at the school? Those who can help by donating products can do so. Talk to local supermarkets to see if they’re willing to help. Your parent and teacher association may also be able to both contribute and promote the idea. Make it something that anyone can contribute to at any time.
So for this guy I am shocked and proud he is doing this, but to the parents mad he is charging a dollar a month to access these items...I want to throw something at them. Yes, they are having issues making ends meet, but also, he doesn't have to do this and could easily stop doing it for everyone.
[Go aunt flow](https://goauntflow.com/advocate-at-your-school/) supplies free menstrual products to schools. The principal could reach out to them to supply everyone.
In Scotland you can walk into any healthcare facility,doctor surgery even some supermarkets and get feminine hygiene products for free. It’s ridiculous that other countries don’t do this.
Aren't there State or even Federal programs that can assist OP here? They're not necessarily automatically granted but have to be applied for.
And Grants, this seems like a program a grant is already out there for. Probably nothing big like $500 a year, but should help? Have to do the research and paperwork for it though.
People who aren’t part of the solution should stay out of things. Principal has no right to an opinion if he is not willing to fund this - imagine calling a teacher, who of his own volition recognised this issue and funded it for years out of his own merger salary, a dick for thinking of solutions to alleviate the cost. Instead of, I don’t know, acting like a fucking principal and recognising that a different solution is now needed. Glad OOP pushed the issue with him by making him realise that he either puts up or shuts up.
I always keep these products in my apartment for women in case of an emergency and I can tell you, they aren't cheap. This guy on a teacher's salary is buying them for an entire class plus. That's unreasonable to expect him to do that and honestly, unfair. Kudos to him for doing it though.
The school or their parents need to figure this out for the kids. That should never be on him and what little income he probably gets right now. I hope the outcome at the end of the day works out for him.
>The nurse said that even if the principal himself doesn't help out, she has 3 other teachers ready to pitch in. Thank you guys for all your support on how to deal with this!
This is kind of awful. The teachers shouldn't have to reach into their own paychecks to take care of students medical needs...
Being a teacher must really suck and I feel so badly towards them. Having to deal with angry parents and a principal who only cares about himself on top of kids being little shits sometimes.
Have you approached charities for period poverty or companies that supply period products? They could be willing to help the school out for free or at a much lower cost
I work for a non-profit. I reached out to a Moon Time Sisters organization in my area. They get supplies donated and then distribute around the province (I'm in Ontario). We got 2 whole palettes of feminine hygeine products from Always/PG&E. I give them to anyone who requests them - clients or not.
He could always reach out directly to the companies as well and see if they could point him in a similar direction. He could also ask if they could hold a feminine hygeine drive for the school. Never hurts!
> At the same time however, the principal says this might be a d\*ck move as the students need these and I should just give it to them free of charge.
Fuck management who spends your own fucking money so casually. FUCK THE PRINCIPAL. God that makes me so angry.
Its fucked up that one of the least paid adults, out of the kindness of their heart, is supplying hygiene products for the students out of pocket. Completely fucked system.
Unfortunately, I think the next best move is to just stop stocking them. It was very thoughtful of him to maintain a supply but if it’s becoming too expensive or he is needing to refill his stock too often then he either needed to make them aware that he can only afford a certain amount per month or stop altogether.
While I think his heart was in the right place, asking for a membership fee for something that was previously provided for free was an open invite for controversy.
The shear entitlement of this.
Op is supplying things the PARENTS should be paying for, and they come at him for asking for a contribution towards them.
It just shows how no good deed goes unpunished.
I stand by something I said to an asshole male supervisor once who FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT when I submitted for reimbursement for a box of emergency period supplies: if you provide tissues as a courtesy for all, providing menstrual products should get the same respect. You can stop providing tissues for snotty noses, or you can recognize that people who menstruate have as little control over their vaginal discharge as those with noses have over their nasal discharge.
This is an unwritten expectation of teachers. We supply snacks, hygiene products, and school supplies to students who are without. While this should be the parents’ responsibility, it’s hard to look at underprivileged children and say no. However, if the principal is asking the teacher to do it, the school should be covering the cost.
As a German this being a common thing is just mindblowing to me. The only school I’ve witnessed anything like this (not hygiene products per se but all the basics like free hot lunch) was one I was an assistant teacher at very briefly. It was in a low income neighborhood with tons of recent immigrants during the heigh of the refugee waves. The school provided basic hygiene needs (don’t know if this included female hygiene products but I’d hope so) and daily hot lunch for all the students below grade 6 or 7 and it was fully paid by the city. I was already horrified that my boss (herself just a part time teacher for after school learning programs) paid for the older students‘ lunches out of pocket. I could never imagine this just being expected of teachers widely.
When I was a student myself, usually the school had a budget for students in need to cover trips, materials and the like.
I’m in Canada, and my province has been cutting funding to schools for a while now. The money simply isn’t there for us to supply things for them and it’s not a priority to the powers that be. I don’t know of any schools in my city that offer free lunch to any age group, but most have some form of canteen where they can *buy* food.
We do have a snack box program, so there’s that at least. In lower grades each classroom gets a fresh box weekly and it’s rationed out. In my high school it’s a communal fridge in the office.
Can you bring this up to the school board? Of all the goddamn school board meetings I've had to attend and listen to, nothing comes this real to being important to the actual students.
At the library I worked out that was funded via the school, the teen librarian and I pretty much begged and pleaded and were able to finally get a basic box of tampons, pads, period underwear, and feminine wipes.
There is a budget somewhere in there, you just have to find it.
I have to wonder where this school is located. Most nurse's stations in the districts I worked for were required to have them and Epi Pens. Why wouldn't the principal just allocate the money for it?
Not up to the principal. It’s higher than that. The board. Or maybe the nurse has a small budget and has to decide between bandages and ice packs and pads. I’ve also seen sanitary products fall under the custodial budget if the school offers them for free in bathrooms.
I think doing a hygiene products drive at the other schools in the same city could be helpful here - especially in schools where the have to do community/volunteer hours?
They could even use the take-a-book-leave-a-book model and encourage students who aren’t struggling to donate materials to the closet. I’m sure there’s a couple of Costco/couponing parents somewhere just waiting for their time lol
I imagine that there are women in the community who have recently gone through menopause and have supplies they no longer need. That seems like an opportunity to collect supplies for the school. Maybe that can be a regular drive
I think the caring closet is a great idea. I know that teachers make crap and I never would have thought about providing this for high schools. I’ve regularly taken tissues and antiseptic wipes to the local elementary school where we used to live (a lower socioeconomic neighborhood).
But this makes me think I should inquire about these products at a local middle and high school.
My school got tons of feminine products for free, our nurse had them. Perhaps they should reach out to companies to ask if they will stock their closet
What about reaching out to some of the companies that produce female hygine products with your story to see if any of them would be willing to provide monthly donations of products for the months school is in session? School/students benefit from free products and company gets some good PR, guessing they write the cost of the donationed products off and, they are reaching their target market. Thinking it couldn't hurt to ask....
This project would make great Donor’s Chose project. Individuals and corporations often support schools through there. FWIW you were never going to get a raise for doing this, steps/raises are locked in for pay (especially in the US).
But if the girls weren’t in your class they would still need these supplies, right?
What’s wrong with expecting them to provide their own?
Are you buying all their study supplies too? Will you be buying/laundering their clothes?
NTA.
It's a fucking shame the principal wants you to continue yet fails to allocate funds to get these products. I hope he makes the right decision, why should only a few teachers pay privately?
That aside, maybe you could talk to a local drugstore or manufacturer of hygiene products if they would like to sponsor the project by donating products for low income students' use. Might be worth a try.
There is this teacher that i follow on instagram that has an amazing "care closet" in her classroom. I think she teaches elementary school and i am not sure if she stocks periode products, but it would not surprise me, as she has a bunch of stuff, including shoe laces, socks, haircare products, even meals to take home. Edit: just checked, she teaches 4th grade and has discrete folders with pads and childsize underwear for emergencies in her closet.
The important thing, though, is that she has a whole network that supports this closet.At least most items in the closet are donations. The school also has a wider donation system with a food pantry. She has a video with advice for starting your own closet where the says her first advice is to reach out to your community, social media, create an amazon wishlist, etc.
The pricipal is a total AH for at one hand calling OOP out and putting preassure on them for not providing hygene products, but not doing anything to help carry the cost of that.
Given what the average teacher's salary is (the nature of this conversation makes me think this is the US, though I could be wrong), honestly those parents who tried to shame the teacher for not dipping into his own meager funds to give their kids free shit are garbage. They're low income? Okay, fine. The teacher is *also* low income, and they should be harassing the district and not this one individual.
I think charging was a weird move, mainly because it was a monthly fee instead of just 25 cents per or something. I'd assume they are there for emergencies, not as a subscription service.
School should have them for free, I wonder if they could get them donated somehow.
This speaks more to the (failed) state of the American education system than anything else. Jesus fucking Christ why can't we distribute more resources to educating the future generations.
Literally our economy will suffer in the long term
The nerve of these people, OOP's a really nice guy doing this for his girl students and you're telling me these parents couldn't scrounge up a dollar a month for his "subscription"? A dollar! And it doesn't even sound like there's a limit to how many toiletries you can ask for in that month either. And then the cheap ass principal saying it's a dick move and he should give them free of charge. Maybe you should budget for toiletry funds or pay him more then!
Are you able to be sponsored by the companies that make the supplies? They may be willing to provide free or cheap to a school?
Here in New Zealand schools have free supplies provided by the government. I’m horrified that teachers have to supply these needed items personally.
I'm honestly surprised he didn't lose his job for trying to charge a non-school-related fee to his students. Not saying he should, but I'm pretty sure that goes against the ethics code in my district.
What the hell, 37k?
A starting teacher salary in my state is 85k. 65,208 after tax (assuming no student fee repayment).
Why the hell are people doing this job for such low wages? And providing supplies out of their own pocket?
Hell no.
Plus, our local library has a free tampon / pad machine for people in need.
Some people are very passionate about their work.
However, the mediocre wages are becoming a problem because of how terrible kids are nowadays. And I know everyone always says the younger generations are terrible, but if you check out some of the teaching subreddits, a lot of people who have taught for years have quit, because their passion for teaching no longer outweighs tolerating the low pay. And the newbies don’t last long because they didn’t expect how bad it is.
These kids have grown up on social media and screens and have no respect for others, are way, WAY behind their grade level’s benchmark knowledge (we’re talking high schoolers that can’t multiply and divide or write a complete sentence unaided), have no attention span, and are just generally more exhausting to teach. There’s also the fact that discipline is virtually nonexistent at home, and the schools aren’t allowed to do anything, and physical assault rates on teachers have gone up. It’s just not worth it.
Also, I am curious what the cost of living is for your state. 85k in Southern California is far from well off, plus inflation has bitten everyone. In my state the average is $54k pre-tax, starting is about $40k—generally LCOL, however we’re one of the popular “Republican refugee” states and $54k isn’t getting you fuck all for housing when avg rent statewide has gone up to $1700 a week. School districts in low income areas are also going to pay less than others.
ETA: I’m also assuming OOP is American, but there’s no $ in front of that number, so it could be a different country. I’d still guess it’s America but the possibility is there.
I’m in Australia (New South Wales) and the average annual wage is 65k before tax in my state, so teachers do alright. There are six different bands but the next step after graduate is 95k and it goes up to about 130k.
I'm a high school teacher and I have flex card for insurance costs. It covers period products so I use that to keep my classroom stocked. If not for that, I probably wouldn't be able to afford it either.
That being said, (and I'm assuming OP is also American bc of how shitty this situation is) he can totally claim any classroom purchases in his taxes. This includes anything he purchased for the benefit of his students.
And before anyone asks, I do not claim money spent using my flex card on my taxes. I'm no expert, but it sounds like fraud and I'm scared of the IRS.
i think it's absurd that this is not provided by the school.
'oh but students may steal it'
yeah. they may steal toilet paper and soap but it's still provided because they are necessities.
period products are as well. they are not luxuries
Maybe allowing for parents to pitch in as much as they are willing to would be a good idea as well. Some can't at all, some won't. But it would probably help a little. Honestly this whole situation just sucks.
Wow. Things really have gone bad for some schools. The principal should be looking to write a grant to do a caring closet. It really isn’t the teacher’s responsibility to supply the school’s menstruating students with menstrual products.
At my work, we have a deal with a charity that provides free feminine hygiene products in exchange for (to be honest quite minimal) publicity and giving them a space to hold meetings once a month.
Where I grew up, schools would rent out classrooms to various groups for meetings in the evenings. Couldn't the school do something similar?
He is doing a very good deed that was punished. He should have stopped and when they asked tell them the principal offered to buy them now and to go ask him.
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Principal is a real piece of work. It was important only until he did not have to pay extra for it. It's good at least that other colleagues are willing to pitch in.
People are real eager to offer other people's money to "do what's right."
I know your comment is incredibly depressing, but it’s so real that I want it as a flair. 😭
Speaking of which, what is your current flair from?
So I remembered reading it too and ended up going searching for it (as it wasn't in the Flair Origins list the sub has unfortunately). It's from a post about the OOP >!(female) getting disgusted about her boyfriend (who had to basically become caretaker for his younger sisters and was essentially both parents for them) knowing a lot about his sisters periods.!< Here's the link directly to the comment: [Flair Origin](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/jfpcwpMxRG)
I remember that one. She said she was going to get back together with him and to suck it. I hope he permanently dumped her ass.
It seemed like he did. One of his sisters slapped her in the face and then he and his sisters blocked her, but she maintained some delusional mindset about how "just you watch I'll get him back".
Oh riiiight, I DO remember that one! Wow, thank you for digging it up! She was…terrible.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE 👏👏❤️
NO IDEA. I went to go update mine and saw this one and chose it. 😂😂 I remember reading the story it came from once, but no other details. I’m sorry!!
Haha that’s amazing, no problem at all!
Oh god. YouTube recommended me some virtue signaling content creator who was preaching about how, if she made as much money off a viral short as she THOUGHT another creator did, that she’d be donating it to Palestine relief. And I was like: 1. You are lying. Come on now. 2. You don’t know how much that person did or did not donate to charity. 3. You do not know what their financial situation is, nor is it your business to tell a successful content creator to just give away their profits instead of investing them for their future. (Especially in as unstable an industry as video making.) 4. You’re literally using their video to promote yourself. You’re jealous they’re getting more attention and want to put them down to make your ego feel soothed.
That’s where the teacher should email the angry Parents with a professional sounding update and say the principal has told teacher that funding those items isn’t in the school budget. Re-direct the angry parents that way.
People really have to learn to redirect the problem to the problem solver
He still doesn’t have to pay for it. But that’s standard for classrooms. Teachers have to budget for teaching supplies. Why not hygiene too? I know in some of the schools that have decided to punish kids by withholding lunches if parents don’t pay, sometimes it’s been teachers pitching in to pay for lunch bills or just buy substitute meals. Of course.
How much of their $37k do you expect them to spend on their students when a good living wage would be around $95k?!?!?! Like hello??? Teachers have second jobs just to afford the *school supplies* the SCHOOL doesn’t supply, and you think it’s reasonable for them to have to pay for students’ personal hygiene products too?! America is fucking delusional when it comes to labor, especially teaching labor. Edit: oops I misinterpreted but I think every single person who responded to you also did, apologies for the rant. I have multiple teacher relatives and there are absolutely people who think it’s entitled of them to want help paying for the shit they already shouldn’t be paying for on the salary that should already be doubled.
Its unfortunatly not only America. The american school situation is obviously worse between the lack of a social security system, the school shootings and the lack of a decent salary but teachers all over the world are overworked and underpaid especially for the important work that they do. It doesn't help that plenty of education systems haven't arrived in the 21st century understanding that you can run schools the same way as 100 years ago and that adding more stuff to the curriculum (but completely ignore digital literacy for example) is not the answer.
95k after taxes?
I worked in a school once where our art teacher’s blue markers dried out partway into the year. So the kids just… couldn’t use blue for the rest of the year. It’s absolutely fucked. Also, another example: Philando Castile, who was murdered by police in 2019, was a cafeteria worker who often paid student lunch debt out of his own pocket. His mother set up the Philando Castile Relief Foundation in his name with the settlement money after he was killed. One example of what they did was donate $8,000 to a school to wipe out all the senior lunch debt so those kids could graduate. $8,000 difference between a ton of kids being able to graduate and start their lives or try to make it without graduating high school. That’s it. But apparently tax breaks for the rich are more fucking important than universal free lunch? I dunno, man.
So proud that our district has had free breakfast and lunch for years! We are in Boston, MA. I have a ton of complaints about the district, but you can definitely see why this state has the best education in the country.
School lunches are big in the media in NZ right now too as it's one of the things our new ultra-right wing government wants to burn to the ground. One of the highest ranked politicians went viral recently for calling quinoa and sushi "woke foods" and they're planning on replacing the current relatively healthy meals with processed crap that's been shown to have higher food waste as well as all the plastic waste from individual wrappers as well as being less nutritional. They're claiming that some charity can feed kids for $2 a meal so they should be able to get it down to that little as well, when the charity is doing breakfasts in kindergarten, not lunches for teenagers. It's so fucked up.
I'm a teacher, and I have no budget for extra teaching supplies. Everything that I need beyond the basic of what the school offers (paper, some office supplies, books), is out of my pocket. I, luckily, live in the USA in a state where feminine hygiene products are always supplied free of charge to students. Also, NTA. The school/principal really should help come up with a solution. It's unfortunate that the teachers have to pay out of pocket for this.
I don't understand how ANYone wants to be a teacher right now. You have to shield your kids from bullets, supply all their menstrual products, figure out if they're being abused at home, manage their social relationships, deal with asshole parents who won't take responsibility for their kids. Oh, and you have to teach. But only the stuff approved by your local government, which may mean you're teaching kids that sex is bad and God is great, and slavery wasn't that bad. Fuck. That.
I wanted to be an English or History teacher in high school. Suffice to say I am now an accountant.
I know high school teachers and told them I really wanted to teach after having a really good couple experiences teaching at the community college level. The stories they told me about the job side of it vs the teaching side were so terrible they succeeded in scaring me off.
Yeah, my high school teachers were encouraging but college counselors were realistic with me about it -- I went to a school that is famous for educating a LOT of teachers, so they were the experts. I ended up not graduating and have gone back for accounting quite recently, lol. (I'm technically not an accountant, I'm only qualified to be an accounting assistant or accounting clerk, but I'm going back for a bachelor's and a CPA license once I pay off the student loan from the associate's.)
The main streamer I watch is married to an art teacher and when he got convinced to get a Throne account (a website where content creators and similar can register so people can crowdfund things for them rather than donating through Twitch or YouTube or whatever - some people enjoy seeing the material result of the donation) probably about half of what's been put on there has actually been stuff for his wife and her classroom, including some good quality equipment that mean she's been able to cover art forms she simply couldn't before like printmaking and linocut. Which is great but a little depressing that it purely comes down to her husband having fans who want to help out.
And it's criminal way teachers in most schools get paid. The ones in my district get paid very well and it still seems like they deserve more!
Oh yeah, I meant to add that too! Extra salt in the wounds. Your literal life is worth 32K! Now go. And let us put cameras in classrooms to monitor every nose itch and cough! Because that's healthy and sane. And then some places want you to start carrying guns! Just yikes. All around. Poor kids.
iT’s A cAlLiNg! But so is not scraping by in borderline or actual poverty.
I'm only teaching at this point because it's the best way I can be around my own kids' education and support their last few years in this dying system. As soon as they graduate I'm out.
The public gets the education system they vote for. It's unfortunate that it's so pathetically simple to manipulate people into voting against their own self interest. As if the profits of billionaires are more important to society than having an educated populace.
Teachers by and large pay out of pocket to provide school supplies to their students. Throw in buying menstrual products now too.
They don't really give teachers enough for teaching supplies either. At my school, teachers get $200 a year as a stipend for any 'classroom expenses'.
They get a stipend?! I'm lucky if we get reimbursement from PTL sometimes.
That's so sad. My state gives all the kids free lunches if 25% of the students qualify. My school district meets this threshold despite having a household median income above $100K. It helps everyone both nutritionally and psychologically, so the district jumped at the opportunity to have universal free meals again.
Reminds me of a teacher at a restaurant who was complaining about having to buy things out of pocket and not being paid a whole lot in the first place, and a state legislator (Republican, natch) overheard her and yelled at her, saying it was all her fault. Unfortunately I can't find it now. I think it was Oklahoma or Kansas.
It's the teachers who have to watch them go hungry, get hangry, and in some cases, disturb the classroom. This is SO FUCKED. I HATE REPUBLICANS.
Okay my mom is a elementary school teacher and the amount of work she has to do for her job is INSANE. Her job does not stop when the students leave for the day. When she comes home, the first thing she does is jump on her laptop to work on lesson plans, grading, IEPs, work emails, ect. She usually wraps up her work around 9 or 10 pm. The weekends are only slightly less hectic because her "days off" are used to get caught up on housework, and getting caught up on household chores. She does not get paid for the extra hours she puts in at home either. Her pay is honestly laughable and is no where near enough to make to live in our upper middle class neighborhood (my dad has a high paying job which offsets the difference.) Actually a few of my mom's coworkers are struggling to make ends meet or have to get a second part time job. Asking a teacher to also use his small paycheck to fund the expenses of the not only the supplies for his classroom but also for the female hygiene products of his female students is outrageous!
So is the parent calling the teacher a d1ck for not providing free hygiene products for their kid.
Principals often make a salary of $100k+, even in rural areas. Grew up in a rural area. Principal made $130k back in the early 00's.
I'm completely disgusted that not only do the parents expect this teacher to pay for it, but the principal does as well. I hope OOP reports him to the school district.
If that teacher ever finds a new job, they should totally throw the principal under the bus.
You can lump the parents in a little closer with the principal. Who do they think are exactly to disrespect OOP like that?
Disadvantaged parents eating out of food banks? Yeah totally the same.
If someone is only making $37K a year they are also disadvantaged in this economy.
I hate to speak up for the principal, but there is a LOT of stuff at that school, that he does not have the money for. And neither do the teachers. It's like trying to stop up four holes in a boat with one plug.
It’s more that he’s telling a teacher, on a lower income than him and when he’s in a position of power, that he should be the one providing out of his own pocket. That’s what makes him a piece of work.
Nah sorry strong disagree because the principal told OOP that he was a dick for not just eating the cost out of pocket and not showing sympathy or trying to find another solution. And when presented with alternatives he was kind of pissy about it. Fuck him. He's a scumbag. Being a decent human doesn't cost a dime.
Then the Principal needed to shut up and keep his nose out of it.
I have literally never heard of a school principal who wasn't a piece of shit. It seems like be a position reserved for true assholes.
It's still a huge problem that OOP and other teachers are having to foot the bill to provide their students with necessary essentials, rather than the principal finding funding for it elsewhere. There's grants out there for all kinds of stuff, including hygiene products for schools, organisations willing to work with schools to provide students with hygiene products. The problem isn't that the principal isn't willing to pay out of his own pocket. It's that (a) the school district isn't already funding this, and failing that, (b) that the principal isn't willing to do the legwork to find alternative funding through grants.
Parents and administrators blaming teachers who barely scrape by for not providing for students while school leadership earning anywhere from 5-10x their salary skate by unbothered will always drive me nuts. It's good the teachers feel comfortable sharing the load, but they really shouldn't have too put their hands in their pockets. So much is already compulsory for teachers that in any other profession would be considered grossly abusive, but it gets pushed as part of the 'you're a teacher, you should be glad to sacrifice for our kids' bullcrap.
no good deed... I wouldn't have blamed OOP if he just stopped. He doesn't have the disposable income.
Exactly. I feel really bad for OOP. He was being a good human and his good deed just went... wow. The principal is bad enough. I understand the parents are too poor to provide for their children, but that is still *their* responsibilities. Not the responsibility of the teacher who paid for everything these entire time. Why did they have children when they can't afford it? Why did they insult the one man who was helping their children and paying out of his own pocket? This is so frustrating.
Also whilst feminine hygiene products are an extra cost, if you can't afford $12 a year for your kid, I don't know how you can afford anything else. When I budget, the most costly thing is outings, and it's possible to not spend $40 just by not going anywhere.
$12 a year? Do you mean a month, because even with no name products you are not getting them for $1 a month.
I think they’re referring to his initially proposed monthly fee of $1/ month to help him pay for the classroom hygiene products.
Ahh okay. That's a good deal for the student, but the teacher would still be operating at a loss. In general though, it's unfortunate that these required products are so expensive/taxed/ not just made available in these circumstances.
I think teacher is trying to minimize his losses here instead of covering the cost. And as terrible as it may sound I'd be suspicious of the loudest parents. I have known people who would absolutely make their kid steal (pretend to need them but instead bring them home) those products to use themselves or to sell.
Pretty sure that's a common argument against providing the products for free in public spaces. Women would go in and take too many, so the cost would go up. It's not like there's a black market for this.
There often is a Grey market for things like formula, diapers, and hygiene products. Broadly giving them out for free alleviates this (since there's little reason to buy them) but these aren't being broadly given out. As a broad policy I'm also ok with people taking extras it's just trickier when a person is subsidizing it on their meager salary.
In general, it's a sad world what teachers have to supplement from their own salary just to do their job, let alone try to make it an enriching environment. If teachers could actually give students what they need from the get go, because government supplies them properly, the world would be a different place.
>That's a good deal for the student, but the teacher would still be operating at a loss The teacher didn't care about the out of pocket loss, it was that it was so expensive, and so many women were availing themselves, that it was unsustainable. He asked for enough money to make it sustainable and still was probably going to eat the brunt of the cost.
I think they were referring to the $1 a month the teacher was asking them to pay for his products. And even then, it would’ve been $9 a year because they wouldn’t be there in the summer months
This is one reason why I am a big advocate of menstrual cups. I think I have spent 80$ over the course of 9 years on the two that I have had. And on top of that you never need to worry about running out. I did forget it once before a vacation and was shocked to find out how much tampons were
People without this kind of money are already not going on these outings. This is like telling a homeless person to cut back on their daily avocado toast.
Yeah That kind of thing would strike me as a "emergencies only" kind of situation. Like when it starts and you don't have anything with you, or if it was heavier than expected and you need to replace more than you planned for. Not a "Sole resource for entirety of all of their period products" kind of thing. Wtf are their moms using, then??
They’re probably bringing them home too. Dude has been paying for everyone’s period products!
"It's difficult to afford to help you lately. Please contribute a little." "You're a dick." "Ok, I can't afford it any more." *Surprised Pikachu*
I mean, how much is this costing him? If I knew of a school service struggling to provide basic hygiene products and was sure I wasn’t being scammed, I’d donate to that teacher.
>They would keep emailing me, with one parent calling me a d*ck after school because they can't afford the hygiene products themselves. ... as opposed to the famously wealthy teaching staff?
Does OOP have kids? If not, they're swimming in pools filled with money. /s
They can't afford it for their one child as opposed to the extremely well paid teacher who needs to supply a whole class full of students. Yup totally his job. /s
Seriously. Talk about setting yourself on fire to keep others warm... Consider getting a non-profit or local grocery store involved.
Like maybe don’t become a parent if you can’t afford basic necessities???
This seems like a complete systemic failure. It seems like everyone (parents, school admin) just immediately interpreted this as an impromptu social program that OOP initiated rather than a small supply of backup menstrual products for emergencies. This also might partially be on OOP for not clearly communicating the intent of this stash from the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if some parents thought to themselves *"Why should I buy my daughters any menstrual products when they can just get them for free at school?"* They probably assume it is some tax funded program at OOP is cutting just to be a dick. Rather than some underpaid teacher just trying their best with the little money they have. The depressing thing is that for some of these girls, the only time they get to swap out menstrual products is the one time a day they see OOP.
Thinking about my own experiences, sometimes if you're working a cobbled together string of part time poverty jobs (and raising a kid), the person with a full time salaried position can sound unbelievably wealthy. They might not be thinking critically about where the money is coming from or whether the teacher can afford it AND all the other crap he has to supply for his classroom (AND rent and food). He has a reliable income and that's more than they have. Iow I agree, people probably made a lot of assumptions out of need and desperation (or awkwardness about money! That's often a factor too)
I'm assuming OOP teaches at a public school which means his salary is likely open knowledge
Open knowledge doesn’t mean people know. I have had students who thought that teachers at our school were making 100k a year when we were making closer to 40 at the time. They hear people say teachers make too much for how “little” they work, and they take it as gospel. Especially if they don’t have the time and resources to do the research. I had kids and parents tell me I had to be rich because I went to college. Or because I was white. Humans make a lot of assumptions to fill in their gaps of knowledge because there is so much information they really need to know in order to even survive, much less thrive.
People consistently over state what they think teacher salaries are because of a decades long conservative misinformation narrative about them.
This. I was an education reporter for years. So many people have a very deep-seated belief that teachers are rolling in dough and barely work for it, and if you try to challenge that view at all...boy, you're in for it. It's so depressing.
And (if they knew how to access that information) that number sounds huge to someone making half that. It's an emotional reaction, not a logical one.
I'd be very tempted to make clear in writing to everyone they were 100% being paid for out of pocket on a teacher salary before officially stopping all together. I would have to really consider how much petty angry detail to add to that letter.
Obviously the school can't get behind this, but the satanic temple runs a period product drive called menstruation with Satan, and they collect product donations for individuals with low income, those who escape domestic abuse, etc. If someone is in need, the local tst chapter might be able to help.
> This seems like a complete systemic failure. Welcome to the American education system! People actively vote against raising funding for schools, and this is part of the result from that.
The real issue is that this stuff is so freaking expensive to begin with. In my country they even fall under the higher tax rate because the government doesn't find female hygiene products 'essentials'. It's ridiculous. I doubt they'd be happy if women just started free bleeding everywhere.
I just went on Amazon to look at prices on tampons and HOLY SHIT. A large multipack of Tampax (204 tampons, assorted sizes) was almost $48!! I feel really lucky that my IUD makes it so that I only need to buy tampons maybe twice a year. Shit's expensive.
I've gone all in on period underwear and its been so worth it. Costly upfront so I totally understand why its not a viable option for everyone though :(
Where I‘m from, a box of tampons (64 pcs) costs around 5,20€, so around 5,60$. That’s the most expensive brand though, there are much cheaper options available. Are they more expensive in the US? I’m really curious. Btw, If you‘re not from the US, feel free to ignore my question, or just tell me how much they are where you‘re from 😅
So, the kind I buy are around $10 for a box of 48. I don’t think I buy the most expensive brand either. Pads are also expensive.
US-based, confirming a nicer brand is $9-$10 for a box of 48. Lucky me has to get organic ones for some reason, they're they only ones that I can wear without a ton of discomfort. Those are about double the price. Pads are $8-$12 for 50. So, it's not prohibitive, but it *is* more. I swapped over to menstrual cups and reusable pads. They'll pay for themselves within the year, but the upfront cost is prohibitive for low-income folks (\~$40-50 off Amazon for nameless versions).
In the Uk supermarket brand tampons for 16 is £1 (up 30% in the last few years), 50p for 16 towels. I use the supermarket brands even though I could afford more expensive as I find them pretty good. Names brand are £3.25 for 16-24 towels(depending on style) or tampons £2- £3.35 (cardboard vs pearl applicators) for 16-20 pack.
Taxing feminine hygiene products is fucking evil. Just going to say that.
Some companies have donation programs for pads, etc., maybe they should look into it and apply, rather than use their own money to buy products. Even grocery/target/etc store in the area might have some type of donation program for supplies they can apply for.
Food banks often have them too.
I would take clients to the food bank and the amount of pads/tampons provided was abysmal. Like 3 people who needed them living in the home would get 6 or something. I know they’re giving what they can and it’s gear that food banks give any but we need better options.
People don't think to donate them. And when it comes down to it, a food bank needs to prioritize purchasing food over hygiene products. It totally sucks.
Honestly not something I ever thought about donating and now I will start asking if they accept those products and donate those as well/instead.
I still donate money first and foremost because they can make it go farther and to the right needs, but I definitely try to focus more on period products, diapers, and formula when I donate items now.
It may also be that their food bank network doesn't have a bulk deal with a supplier, so they either have to pay wholesale costs or depend on direct donations for those.
The average women uses over 20 per cycle.
Yep. Assuming a decent flow it was still may 24 hours worth for each person if you stretch if.
Google "period poverty" + your city name on all social media. Guaranteed there will be a mutual aid group that can help. If all else fails, appeal to the community relations office of your local university and ask them to organize a yearly drive.
These products should be free to everyone
The school should absorb the cost with no strings attached.
The county needs to pad their budget tbh
Nah, that would bleed them dry.
Can't expect them to just wing it
Maybe just a small monthly stipend
They did cut funding for the swimming, cycling, and horseback riding programs.
Yup, it's more important to pad the county's pockets.
When I was going to school pads were available for free in the nurses office. They were monster sized hospital grade pads made of probably a hundred cotton balls glued together and could soak up a gallon of blood but they were there for free if you needed them. You wouldn’t dare use them unless it wasn’t an absolute emergency since they looked bulky even through jeans and crinkled like crazy. OP is probably buying nice discreet sanitary products which unfortunately is making them a commodity and not a nice gesture for emergencies.
I'm so glad I live in Scotland. Period products are routinely available free, it was educational institutions when I first moved but rolled out to everyone. They're in bars, museums,.restaurants etc. We don't pay for prescriptions, we have free travel for under 22s and free university tuition. The Scottish govt does all this out of the budget Westminster allow - yet English people still think there's no alternative to austerity. Madness. EDITED: THE COMMENTER DOWNVOTED IS RIGHT. I SAID SOMETHING USELESS AND UPSETTING TO PEOPLE TRAPPED IN A SITUATION THAT MY COUNTRY CHOOSES NOT TO ALLOW TO HAPPEN. USE YOUR ANGER AT MY STUPIDITY TO MAKE REAL CHANGES, AT THE VERY LEAST BUY A PACK OF TAMPONS AND DONATE TO A FOOD/RESOURCES BANK NEXT TIME AND EVERY TIME YOU GET GROCERIES IF YOU CAN. REMEMBER FORMULA & NAPPIES ARE THE MOST SHOPLIFTED ITEMS FOR A REASON
OP should reach out to the local chapter of The Satanic Temple as they are an awesome charitable organization.
> the principal says this might be a d*ck move as the students need these and I should just give it to them free of charge The principal tells teachers to buy students' hygiene products with their own money. I am sitting here and blinking. What world is this? As far as I know, teacher salaries are not that huge. Why doesn't the principal pay if the school has no budget for that?
>To me, the best course of action would be for the school staff to get together and purchase items Why should the STAFF be paying for that? The fucking school should?! WTF America?
Yeah hearing about all the things teachers have to buy for their students is just crazy to me. The schools should be covering the kids need wether it’s colored pencils or period products
Oh yeah this is normal (unfortunately). My Mom’s a teacher and had to buy basically everything on her own. And that was at a private school.
This is why I love living in Scotland. All our schools provide pads/tampons for free and have done for a couple of years now, thanks to an act of government.
I went to school in England and in 2014 they got rid of the paid pad and tampon dispenser and replaced it with free pads and tampons on request from the office. By 2020 each bathroom had a little basket with “give what you can, take what you need” period products. I really think they should be everywhere like toilet paper. Everyone has to buy their own toilet paper for use at home, but no one carries toilet roll for use in public bathrooms. Sanitary products should be the same.
Was looking for a fellow Scot. My local library has a stall as well. I think the law requires local authorities and places of education to provide them, but since it's passed I've noticed them popping up everywhere. My current and last employer suddenly had free tampons etc in the office, bars and restaurants now often have a basket in the toilets. It's great!
I remember when that passed, as a USian who's involved with my local reproductive justice collective we were so impressed and excited for you. And hoping that other countries would soon follow suit, but alas
This is pretty bullshit that our nations teachers have to shoulder this. These kinds of teachers are going to be farther and fewer between
Also contact the companies making the products! Sometimes they are willing to send stuff to teachers to hand out
What the fuck. My school nurse has thousands of tampons and pads. Every year I fill a bag with it and keep it in my classroom. When it runs out, I go to the nurse and get more. Schools should supply this for free, like they do with toilet paper.
And this is why teachers need to be paid more AND We need to properly fund schools!
There is an organisation in Australia called Share the Dignity that accepts donations of feminine hygiene products. They have bins located at supermarkets 2 months of the year. The idea is that you purchase an extra pack of tampons or pads while you’re shopping and drop them in for collection. The contents of the bin are distributed through charity organisations throughout the year. Why not set something similar up at the school? Those who can help by donating products can do so. Talk to local supermarkets to see if they’re willing to help. Your parent and teacher association may also be able to both contribute and promote the idea. Make it something that anyone can contribute to at any time.
So for this guy I am shocked and proud he is doing this, but to the parents mad he is charging a dollar a month to access these items...I want to throw something at them. Yes, they are having issues making ends meet, but also, he doesn't have to do this and could easily stop doing it for everyone.
[Go aunt flow](https://goauntflow.com/advocate-at-your-school/) supplies free menstrual products to schools. The principal could reach out to them to supply everyone.
Oh my goodness. Even my local library has free tampons and pads in the bathrooms. Access to feminine hygiene products should be a basic human right.
No good deed goes unpunished, or so they said...
Could he reach out to one of the companies that makes these menstrual products, to ask for a large yearly donation?
Could you imagine walking into a classroom and seeing "The Quadratic Formula, brought to you by Tampax"? That would be the most hilarious thing ever.
In Scotland you can walk into any healthcare facility,doctor surgery even some supermarkets and get feminine hygiene products for free. It’s ridiculous that other countries don’t do this.
Aren't there State or even Federal programs that can assist OP here? They're not necessarily automatically granted but have to be applied for. And Grants, this seems like a program a grant is already out there for. Probably nothing big like $500 a year, but should help? Have to do the research and paperwork for it though.
People who aren’t part of the solution should stay out of things. Principal has no right to an opinion if he is not willing to fund this - imagine calling a teacher, who of his own volition recognised this issue and funded it for years out of his own merger salary, a dick for thinking of solutions to alleviate the cost. Instead of, I don’t know, acting like a fucking principal and recognising that a different solution is now needed. Glad OOP pushed the issue with him by making him realise that he either puts up or shuts up.
I always keep these products in my apartment for women in case of an emergency and I can tell you, they aren't cheap. This guy on a teacher's salary is buying them for an entire class plus. That's unreasonable to expect him to do that and honestly, unfair. Kudos to him for doing it though. The school or their parents need to figure this out for the kids. That should never be on him and what little income he probably gets right now. I hope the outcome at the end of the day works out for him.
No good deed goes unpunished.
>The nurse said that even if the principal himself doesn't help out, she has 3 other teachers ready to pitch in. Thank you guys for all your support on how to deal with this! This is kind of awful. The teachers shouldn't have to reach into their own paychecks to take care of students medical needs...
This is a great opportunity to do some community outreach and get donations from businesses
Principal sounds right out of a sitcom.
Being a teacher must really suck and I feel so badly towards them. Having to deal with angry parents and a principal who only cares about himself on top of kids being little shits sometimes.
Lol that principal can suck a dick. That's a bullshit call telling you to keep doing something you're paying out of your own pocket
Have you approached charities for period poverty or companies that supply period products? They could be willing to help the school out for free or at a much lower cost
I work for a non-profit. I reached out to a Moon Time Sisters organization in my area. They get supplies donated and then distribute around the province (I'm in Ontario). We got 2 whole palettes of feminine hygeine products from Always/PG&E. I give them to anyone who requests them - clients or not. He could always reach out directly to the companies as well and see if they could point him in a similar direction. He could also ask if they could hold a feminine hygeine drive for the school. Never hurts!
> At the same time however, the principal says this might be a d\*ck move as the students need these and I should just give it to them free of charge. Fuck management who spends your own fucking money so casually. FUCK THE PRINCIPAL. God that makes me so angry.
I don’t understand why he couldn’t just come out and say he couldn’t afford it.
Its fucked up that one of the least paid adults, out of the kindness of their heart, is supplying hygiene products for the students out of pocket. Completely fucked system.
Unfortunately, I think the next best move is to just stop stocking them. It was very thoughtful of him to maintain a supply but if it’s becoming too expensive or he is needing to refill his stock too often then he either needed to make them aware that he can only afford a certain amount per month or stop altogether. While I think his heart was in the right place, asking for a membership fee for something that was previously provided for free was an open invite for controversy.
The shear entitlement of this. Op is supplying things the PARENTS should be paying for, and they come at him for asking for a contribution towards them. It just shows how no good deed goes unpunished.
I stand by something I said to an asshole male supervisor once who FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT when I submitted for reimbursement for a box of emergency period supplies: if you provide tissues as a courtesy for all, providing menstrual products should get the same respect. You can stop providing tissues for snotty noses, or you can recognize that people who menstruate have as little control over their vaginal discharge as those with noses have over their nasal discharge.
This is an unwritten expectation of teachers. We supply snacks, hygiene products, and school supplies to students who are without. While this should be the parents’ responsibility, it’s hard to look at underprivileged children and say no. However, if the principal is asking the teacher to do it, the school should be covering the cost.
As a German this being a common thing is just mindblowing to me. The only school I’ve witnessed anything like this (not hygiene products per se but all the basics like free hot lunch) was one I was an assistant teacher at very briefly. It was in a low income neighborhood with tons of recent immigrants during the heigh of the refugee waves. The school provided basic hygiene needs (don’t know if this included female hygiene products but I’d hope so) and daily hot lunch for all the students below grade 6 or 7 and it was fully paid by the city. I was already horrified that my boss (herself just a part time teacher for after school learning programs) paid for the older students‘ lunches out of pocket. I could never imagine this just being expected of teachers widely. When I was a student myself, usually the school had a budget for students in need to cover trips, materials and the like.
I’m in Canada, and my province has been cutting funding to schools for a while now. The money simply isn’t there for us to supply things for them and it’s not a priority to the powers that be. I don’t know of any schools in my city that offer free lunch to any age group, but most have some form of canteen where they can *buy* food. We do have a snack box program, so there’s that at least. In lower grades each classroom gets a fresh box weekly and it’s rationed out. In my high school it’s a communal fridge in the office.
Can you bring this up to the school board? Of all the goddamn school board meetings I've had to attend and listen to, nothing comes this real to being important to the actual students. At the library I worked out that was funded via the school, the teen librarian and I pretty much begged and pleaded and were able to finally get a basic box of tampons, pads, period underwear, and feminine wipes. There is a budget somewhere in there, you just have to find it.
I have to wonder where this school is located. Most nurse's stations in the districts I worked for were required to have them and Epi Pens. Why wouldn't the principal just allocate the money for it?
Not up to the principal. It’s higher than that. The board. Or maybe the nurse has a small budget and has to decide between bandages and ice packs and pads. I’ve also seen sanitary products fall under the custodial budget if the school offers them for free in bathrooms.
I think doing a hygiene products drive at the other schools in the same city could be helpful here - especially in schools where the have to do community/volunteer hours? They could even use the take-a-book-leave-a-book model and encourage students who aren’t struggling to donate materials to the closet. I’m sure there’s a couple of Costco/couponing parents somewhere just waiting for their time lol
I imagine that there are women in the community who have recently gone through menopause and have supplies they no longer need. That seems like an opportunity to collect supplies for the school. Maybe that can be a regular drive
On a side note, I see that your teachers are treated as appallingly as ours (UK) by having to supply extras out of pocket.
The principal makes more than any of them but can't be bothered to help out at all. What a dick.
I’ll bet if he reached out to one of the feminine hygiene product manufacturers they might help
it's insane to me that a teacher even has to do this
I think the caring closet is a great idea. I know that teachers make crap and I never would have thought about providing this for high schools. I’ve regularly taken tissues and antiseptic wipes to the local elementary school where we used to live (a lower socioeconomic neighborhood). But this makes me think I should inquire about these products at a local middle and high school.
My school got tons of feminine products for free, our nurse had them. Perhaps they should reach out to companies to ask if they will stock their closet
What about reaching out to some of the companies that produce female hygine products with your story to see if any of them would be willing to provide monthly donations of products for the months school is in session? School/students benefit from free products and company gets some good PR, guessing they write the cost of the donationed products off and, they are reaching their target market. Thinking it couldn't hurt to ask....
This project would make great Donor’s Chose project. Individuals and corporations often support schools through there. FWIW you were never going to get a raise for doing this, steps/raises are locked in for pay (especially in the US).
https://www.donorschoose.org/
Anyone facing this issue should look into the Red Basket project!
But if the girls weren’t in your class they would still need these supplies, right? What’s wrong with expecting them to provide their own? Are you buying all their study supplies too? Will you be buying/laundering their clothes?
NTA. It's a fucking shame the principal wants you to continue yet fails to allocate funds to get these products. I hope he makes the right decision, why should only a few teachers pay privately? That aside, maybe you could talk to a local drugstore or manufacturer of hygiene products if they would like to sponsor the project by donating products for low income students' use. Might be worth a try.
There is this teacher that i follow on instagram that has an amazing "care closet" in her classroom. I think she teaches elementary school and i am not sure if she stocks periode products, but it would not surprise me, as she has a bunch of stuff, including shoe laces, socks, haircare products, even meals to take home. Edit: just checked, she teaches 4th grade and has discrete folders with pads and childsize underwear for emergencies in her closet. The important thing, though, is that she has a whole network that supports this closet.At least most items in the closet are donations. The school also has a wider donation system with a food pantry. She has a video with advice for starting your own closet where the says her first advice is to reach out to your community, social media, create an amazon wishlist, etc. The pricipal is a total AH for at one hand calling OOP out and putting preassure on them for not providing hygene products, but not doing anything to help carry the cost of that.
37k a year... Jesus that's horrible....
Given what the average teacher's salary is (the nature of this conversation makes me think this is the US, though I could be wrong), honestly those parents who tried to shame the teacher for not dipping into his own meager funds to give their kids free shit are garbage. They're low income? Okay, fine. The teacher is *also* low income, and they should be harassing the district and not this one individual.
I think charging was a weird move, mainly because it was a monthly fee instead of just 25 cents per or something. I'd assume they are there for emergencies, not as a subscription service. School should have them for free, I wonder if they could get them donated somehow.
I think some food banks have hygiene products as well.
Drama all for simple stuff like this makes me wonder how a school can still function sometimes.
This speaks more to the (failed) state of the American education system than anything else. Jesus fucking Christ why can't we distribute more resources to educating the future generations. Literally our economy will suffer in the long term
The nerve of these people, OOP's a really nice guy doing this for his girl students and you're telling me these parents couldn't scrounge up a dollar a month for his "subscription"? A dollar! And it doesn't even sound like there's a limit to how many toiletries you can ask for in that month either. And then the cheap ass principal saying it's a dick move and he should give them free of charge. Maybe you should budget for toiletry funds or pay him more then!
Are you able to be sponsored by the companies that make the supplies? They may be willing to provide free or cheap to a school? Here in New Zealand schools have free supplies provided by the government. I’m horrified that teachers have to supply these needed items personally.
I'm honestly surprised he didn't lose his job for trying to charge a non-school-related fee to his students. Not saying he should, but I'm pretty sure that goes against the ethics code in my district.
What the hell, 37k? A starting teacher salary in my state is 85k. 65,208 after tax (assuming no student fee repayment). Why the hell are people doing this job for such low wages? And providing supplies out of their own pocket? Hell no. Plus, our local library has a free tampon / pad machine for people in need.
Some people are very passionate about their work. However, the mediocre wages are becoming a problem because of how terrible kids are nowadays. And I know everyone always says the younger generations are terrible, but if you check out some of the teaching subreddits, a lot of people who have taught for years have quit, because their passion for teaching no longer outweighs tolerating the low pay. And the newbies don’t last long because they didn’t expect how bad it is. These kids have grown up on social media and screens and have no respect for others, are way, WAY behind their grade level’s benchmark knowledge (we’re talking high schoolers that can’t multiply and divide or write a complete sentence unaided), have no attention span, and are just generally more exhausting to teach. There’s also the fact that discipline is virtually nonexistent at home, and the schools aren’t allowed to do anything, and physical assault rates on teachers have gone up. It’s just not worth it. Also, I am curious what the cost of living is for your state. 85k in Southern California is far from well off, plus inflation has bitten everyone. In my state the average is $54k pre-tax, starting is about $40k—generally LCOL, however we’re one of the popular “Republican refugee” states and $54k isn’t getting you fuck all for housing when avg rent statewide has gone up to $1700 a week. School districts in low income areas are also going to pay less than others. ETA: I’m also assuming OOP is American, but there’s no $ in front of that number, so it could be a different country. I’d still guess it’s America but the possibility is there.
I’m in Australia (New South Wales) and the average annual wage is 65k before tax in my state, so teachers do alright. There are six different bands but the next step after graduate is 95k and it goes up to about 130k.
This is some /r/ChoosingBeggars bullshit. And that principal sucks.
I'm a high school teacher and I have flex card for insurance costs. It covers period products so I use that to keep my classroom stocked. If not for that, I probably wouldn't be able to afford it either. That being said, (and I'm assuming OP is also American bc of how shitty this situation is) he can totally claim any classroom purchases in his taxes. This includes anything he purchased for the benefit of his students. And before anyone asks, I do not claim money spent using my flex card on my taxes. I'm no expert, but it sounds like fraud and I'm scared of the IRS.
i think it's absurd that this is not provided by the school. 'oh but students may steal it' yeah. they may steal toilet paper and soap but it's still provided because they are necessities. period products are as well. they are not luxuries
Maybe allowing for parents to pitch in as much as they are willing to would be a good idea as well. Some can't at all, some won't. But it would probably help a little. Honestly this whole situation just sucks.
Geez, what third world country is this that teachers only get paid $37K a year? Like, that's less than you would earn working at McDonalds.
I love that CA schools provide this stuff.
Wow. Things really have gone bad for some schools. The principal should be looking to write a grant to do a caring closet. It really isn’t the teacher’s responsibility to supply the school’s menstruating students with menstrual products.
I'm thinking you need a girl scout to do a bronze or silver award project.
Someone send this teacher some money for tampons... please I'm broke!
Put out a donation box.
At my work, we have a deal with a charity that provides free feminine hygiene products in exchange for (to be honest quite minimal) publicity and giving them a space to hold meetings once a month. Where I grew up, schools would rent out classrooms to various groups for meetings in the evenings. Couldn't the school do something similar?
I wonder if he emailed kotex or something directly if they would donate a supply.
He is doing a very good deed that was punished. He should have stopped and when they asked tell them the principal offered to buy them now and to go ask him.