It is utterly unbelievable to me that there is a Chancellor's Regulation about this. If I might suggest to the Chancellor, he would much better serve the needs of the actual KIDS in this equation by coming up with regulations that have to do with the quality of their educational life. The fact that there aren't enough great teachers. That lame principals more or less hide out in their offices, fiddling while Rome burns. That the official policy of NYC DOE is to wait until kids are outright failing before they take any action whatsoever. We are new to public school this year, after having my son in private school for kindergarten and first grade, and we will leave as soon as humanly possible. Anyway, the short answer is, I was asked for $5 for the teacher and gave $10, and also purchased a gift of personalized stationery. My son's teacher is terrific and I would actually like to do more for her but I am worried it would seem out of place.

I was the Class mom for many years from Pre-k until the end of elementary school with my four daughters. Collecting five dollars is the limit and I would send out a notice for each family that we were collecting. A gift was determined by the other class moms together. We did jewelry, IPOD, Gift cards, A stepping stone with the name of one teacher at the zoo that loved animals and we always signed the card from the class. There were parents that didn't want to participate, and that was their choice, but we would never put names and not list everyone. One time I did get many checks, not cash and as I held the list I made purchase with my own money only to find the checks years later that I never cashed! It's hard when you have hundreds of dollars in singles to actually use. LOL One time there was a collection made by a class mom for $7. each for a teacher. One parent told me that she sent in only $5. and it was returned to her with a note from that class mom that said.........Keep your money, you obviously need it more than the teacher.I think that is terrible and as was posted, some parents wanted to contribute $20, and we used it.

SchoolBook talked to parents and educators on Facebook and Twitter about gift-giving. Here are some of the comments we received:

Twitter:
Michael Albertson - "Families want to show gratitude and tchrs are forced to be rude and say no. Also, insulting that DOE thinks tchrs take as bribes."

Ben Max - "Should be up to parents, but I encourage parents to simply give a card with a warm, thankful message. No other gift necessary."

Facebook:
Marian Thomas - "I see nothing wrong with giving a teacher a small token of appreciation. The postman, UPS etc.... get tips. I love to show my appreciation to a great teacher. I would like to know how the teachers feels about this...."

Stacey Sperling - "Our school does something where we ask the teacher what she would like/what she needs for the classroom, and the. We collect funds for that. 20% of whatever is collected goes to the cluster teachers for supplies for their classes."

Ricky Chan - "The teachers go above and beyond for the kids in our school. A gift this time of year is a great way to show appreciation for all that they do the entire school year."

Sandra Barker - "It's probably a good idea because it is very competitive in schools today. The policy makes it more black and white for teachers and students. Nothing wrong with a chocolate and a card, though, surely!"