Posted by
Juliet on Monday, August 18, 2008 2:32:00 PM
There's a lot teachers and principals at my church, and they're reminding the rest of us that they're going back to work now to get ready for the new school year. This brings to mind an article I read around the end of this past school year . . . one of those "10 ways to cut back-to-school costs" articles. One of the suggestions was to search the school trash bins at the end of the school year, because janitors throw out tons of perfectly good and unused school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, pens, rulers, etc. I thought this was a great idea, but I was frustrated because our youngest kid was graduating high school. "Now they tell me!"
Also, I didn't find out until his final years of high school that you can "shop" for the best local public schools to which you can send your child with a few clicks of a computer mouse --- your own or one at your local library. Simply visit your state's department of education online and click links concerning your local schools' safety record for the past year or two. Also click links showing how the schools' students scored on state tests and AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) tests mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind laws. Other information on these websites may interest you as well. You'll find some eye-opening stuff, I promise you.
Oh well, if our boy decides to start college, money's tight. Wonder if our local school's janitor saved any supplies from last year . . . .