A reasonable question to add to the one suggested here is -- how much have your kids' teachers paid out-of-pocket this year for classroom supplies? Maybe it's not an issue in NY, but here in Louisiana it certainly is. Most teachers spend several hundred for basic supplies like pencils, paper, notebooks, folders and markers; they also purchase science equipment, art supplies and books for their classroom libraries. A public school teacher I know bought a rug and also brought additional items from home (chairs, a bookshelf, a stool). I believe that over time many of the costs of public schooling have been offloaded to parents and teachers alike, and it almost never gets reported.

There hasn't been a year that my kids have been in NYC public school that I have not been given a large shopping list, not just for supplies for my child's personal use but for supplies for the classroom. Art supplies, paper towels, hand sanitiser, hand soap, reams of paper, pens, pencils, rugs for the class room have all been on the list. Additionally, teachers spend their own money for class supplies when the parents can't afford to help out. This is in addition to varous fund raisers that take place over the course of the school year. PTA's often bridge the gap between the spartan budget and what schools would like to provide for the kids.

Does this create an inequity between the schools with higher income kids and those without??? Absolutely. In general, the parents who can try to give enough to be able to cover for those who don't have the means.

In an ideal world the schools would be richly funded so all of the kids in the system could have an enriched education filled with goodies like art and music and physical education and additional educational help when needed. The best principals here in New York are masters at stretchinga dime thin, get their PTA's energized and chase down every grant available.

The real problem that only gets a marginal note in the article is the severe cutbacks in education funding. This forces schools to resort to "nickel-and-dime-ing" parents to be able to offer a suitable education. In a perfect world where we werent so penny-wise an pound-foolish, schools would be adequately funded, and all city taxpayers would contribute in a somewhat "balanced" distribution of burden, so everyone would pay a tiny bit more in a highly indirect way. Instead, we are forced to resort to an improvised, abstract pay-per-use tax, only these tolls are unregulated and rely on voluntary participation that exacerbates the omnipresent class tension that would otherwise play out in different venues.

Our son goes to PS 87 William T. Sherman on the UWS, pne of the more coveted (albeit recently infamous) schools in the city. Even before he started kindergarten in the fall the Parent Association introduced itself to us in a very upfront manner. They told us all of the things the PA pays for: art supplies, better school lunches, classroom aides, the library, air conditioning, trips, lice checks, classroom supplies, a dance program, and lots of other things. We also were asked to supply our son's class with rolls of paper towels, markers, glue, tape, tissues. plastic bags and more. Our class parents also donate money for our son's classroom activities and more supplies. We donated to the PA, the class fund and the classroom generously and happily. We figured it was still less than the amount of private education. Our PA will be holding its Spring Auction this weekend. It will raise tons of money. We will go at $60.00 a ticket plus anything we buy. Still less than private school. Still less than private school. Still less than private school.

Good to see so many parents weighing in on this question. Though teachers are always welcome to comment, this is about what parents spend, not how much teachers spend on school supplies -- a subject that is well documented every new school year.

More than a hundred parents have shared their expenses with SchoolBook so far. City parents, it might interest you to know that suburban parents don't get off the hook, despite the high property taxes many pay. They also get socked for everything from paper towels to school trips -- plus many school districts have "education foundations" that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for things like classroom white boards and teachers' professional development. Parents are tapped heavily for that, too.

AT NEST+m, G&T Citywide on the Lower East Side, the 'suggested' donation for each family is $1000. Many parents (myself NOT included) mistakenly think that because their child 'scored' a seat at one of the very few G&T available by the NYC/DOE, they (the families) should be happy to foot the bills for whatever the principals want. AT NEST this year, the general fund raising was expanded, when Principal Livanis decided to cut the number of cluster and other teachers, eliminating Dance, Chess and at least one teacher position in the lower grades. The PTA at NEST is a good support for the school community generally, but the idea that she (the Principal) KNOWS that parents can/will fill in to restore services is a controversial topic.

For example, at NEST, where Technology is part of the name (new explorations in science, TECHNOLOGY and math), my son has not had a single Technology focus class since KINDERGARTEN! Until this term, when the PTA got permission and then raised monies for a Technology teacher... isnt that shocking to anyone at all?

Schools which are not eligible for any federal Title I funding (due to rather affluent demographics of the student body) tend to use the PTA's in this manner. And there are certainly some legitimate arguments to be made (we - the parents, can afford it, have our kids in a high performing school, etc etc)... but isnt there a problem with the principals strategically cutting programs that they KNOW the parents/PTA's will cover?

The current way the principals are told to manage their financial pool is an issue. And, if programs cease to exist in schools simply because PTA and Parent Groups dont have the resources, what does that say about the political voices in terms of PUBLIC (tax paid, free) education for the vast majority of our students ??

Maybe we can ask the privately managed charter schools to kick in by paying rent, thereby offsetting the budget cuts to public schools? just a thought......

@ Sabrina. I'm also in California with two children attending schools in the Los Angeles Unified School system. One is in high school, the other in fifth grade. I second everything you say. At my children's schools we're asked for a yearly for donation upfront. At my daughter's school, the suggestion is $700 per child, which goes toward funding "enrichment" teaching positions (computer, music, p.e., etc.) and other things not in the budget. That doesn't include the endless stream of fundraisers, donations to the classroom (another flat "suggested" fee, usually around $100) and other special things. I, too often think of the schools in other parts of the city. Without a motivated parent base and extra money, they are extra screwed. Even with the extra money, our administration is always working the system to stay on top - all sorts of crazy machinations are used to keep the library going and a full-time janitor in place, because yes, a clean school is a luxury in today's L.A.
It's nuts and really begs the question: is California (and to a lesser extent the nation) really supporting public education in any meaningful way? I think the answer is no. Those who rail about a broken system have their points, but the answer is not to take away funding, because you're doing more than punishing bureaucrats or politicians you disagree with, you're damning a whole generation to undereducation -- which in the end is very expensive for a society. People just don't get it or they don't care.

it's time we implement pay as you go at public schools for arts programs. Second, it's time we stop spending on non-sense classroom items. Teachers spend thousands each year decorating their classrooms. It is non-productive and waste of money. Lastly, it's time to buy things at wholesale prices. We have hundreds of schools. Maybe it's time to negotiate a contract with foreign companies to ship products directly to a central NY school district hub. Teachers collect their supplies from the district office.

I want the school district to stop offering teachers vacation days. What message does that send to the students? It is disruptive to academics and bottomline, we can't afford the $250 substitute who plays movies, while my kids' teachers go skiing!! I lost all respect when my son's 7th grade teacher took a week off to get married .. . in April. As my mother who taught 4th grade for 27 years said "That is what summer vacation is for". We taxpayers had to pay $250 x 5 for his wedding. I am done with throwing my money away for this.

What I don't understand is how the schools could be struggling when the state lottery was supposed to help fund them. So, how is it that there are multi-million dollar jackpots, and if I remember correctly, the lottery was instituted way back in the late 70s or early 80s to help the schools, but instead I'm getting fund-raising envelopes sent home to me every few weeks. So, we can likely assume that the money the lottery is bringing in is displacing other public monies that had been used; but wasn't the lottery supposed to keep defunding of the schools from happening again? Where's the outrage? I hope someone can explain this.

Welcome to the world of not enough funding. I went to an NYC public junior high and high school but have been a resident of California for the past 13 years. My kids have attended K-8 public schools here in suburban San Francisco, and they now attend a public high school. Without getting into the minutiae of how truly insane the funding model is here, the bottom line is under-funded public schools since 1978's Proposition 13 tax law went into effect.

The way we've managed to get around this is in two ways: (a) we've created non-profit fundraising entities to augment the school district budgets, keeping teacher layoffs and reduction of arts and music to a minimum, and (b) we've implemented parcel taxes in individual communities to make sure school buildings are maintained and upgraded when necessary. But that doesn't cover classroom wish lists, nor does it cover teachers aides. There is a heavy reliance on parent volunteers and classroom donations of supplies. So what happens to the schools in low income communities? In a word, they're screwed.

NYC, take a look at a PBS documentary about California education called "From First to Worst" and therein lies your future. Part 1 is here on YouTube; you can find the rest of the documentary in subsequent sections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oTtAdJi1AjQ

At the public school my children attend in Manhattan, the "suggested donation" is $1,200 per child per year. And there are many other required expenses in addition.

Please post where you are from. The education system in NJ is very different from NYC.
Thanks

Question: How good is your school administration at the proper use of their budget? Have staff received ongoing budget training?
Why is it that some schools are able to work within budget while others aren't...? Remember: this is a government-run operation; we need to be asking these questions.

I'm a NYC public charter parent ( yes yes my kid attends a Success Academy charter) - so far this year I would say I have spend about$300 - but this was only on uniform and backpack. It is worked into the budget for our schools that the kids don't have to provide anything at all. I spend around $250 on his uniforms/shoes this year and he's on his 2nd backpack at $15 a pop. I am the parent council president, so I have had to shell out a few hundred for the events we have run because our budget is very small ( $500 for the year with 250 kids to contend with). The parent council leans heavily on parent donations for our events, but because they don't have to come out of pocket for things like chalk and toilet paper they are able to. It disgusts me that parents have to buy so many things for their kids' classrooms (just as much as teachers having to provide for theirs). We have to provide our supplies for at home ( crayons, pencils, paper, etc) so doubling that and then some is just too big a strain on parents. The DOE needs to get the money straight and the principles need to be educated in the best way to run their budgets and need to be able to shop around. While I'm not really on board with the mass purchasing over seas idea - the DOE has a list of companies they have a contract with that schools MUST purchase thru. An example I was given last year that amazed me was a teacher trying to get a new chalkboard for their classroom. It can take at least a year after it is requested. The item must be approved and then ordered. But the school can't head to staples, or on line to find the best deal - they have to go thru the DOE's contact and items generally cost 2 - 3 times the amount you can find by looking for a deal. It reminds me of the mob days where you had to have your linens cleaned thru a certain service, buy your meats from a certain butcher, etc - and if you don't......

public school parent, up in Inwood Manhattan... up to about $700 for 2 kids on supplies and snacks; more if I count for the extracurriculars I'm paying for since none are available at the school. Probably a few more hundred bucks to go before the end of the year with the upcoming fundraisers.

So what happens to the schools (and children in the schools) where, for a variety of reasons, there is no parent participation? We are further creating a divided society.

The city spends (roughly) $24,000 per pupil per year in NYC public schools and it's clearly not enough to give every kid a first-class education. My daughter's school–PS 234 in lower Manhattan–adds hundreds of thousands dollars to the total with book sales, bake sales, auctions, used clothing sales, Taste of Tribeca...and on and on. It means our school have access to music teachers (with instruments for kids starting in grade 4), psychologists, and much more. I appreciate these things but when so many essential items and programs are absent from 'less fortunate' schools we should kid ourselves that public education is about giving everyone an equal shot at success.

Yes...this indeed is a serious issue, that is why some parents have put a great program together called Schoolit, at justschoolit.com. Please go to the site, sign up your school and start shopping for your family with discount deals, while raising money for your school.. Good luck.

Last year, we must have spent about $1,500 on school supplies, fund-raising items, bake sales (and were shamed by parents and occasional DOE messages, to boot, for consuming sugar at school, even as we forked over our money) and the "teach gift," a CASH Christmas gift to the teacher which should be illegal and banned even though the teacher deserves 10 times more than she got.
For this and other reasons, it was our last year in the public system, the last year I will ever let the government get its grubby little hands on my child.
I finally decided that the last entity I want forming my child's mind is the government, and I urge my fellow liberal, conservative and middle-of-the-road citizens to think about it this way.

In the past year parents at our school in Brooklyn have paid: $23,000 for a new math curriculum, $46,000 for the Met Opera Guild to teach music in our school, $4,500 for classroom teachers to buy supplies, 4,000 for compostable lunch trays, and much more. I agree in theory that money raised by parents leads to inequalities BUT the simple fact is that the system does not provide enough money to run a school properly and we parents are just bridging the gap to provide the best for our kids.

It’s true. Over the past ten years, I have been fundraising for my kids’ schools and the pressure to raise more and more money is growing, and falling almost entirely on PTAs. With our most recent budget cuts, the money we now raise is going toward maintaining our schools and paying staff, instead of arts, music and sports programs for our children. We need more solutions. My son’s school just started a fundraising program that is helping us raise money year-round, called Schoolit. Schoolit is a deal site that gives 100% of its proceeds back to local schools, and it was created by concerned PTA parents of Manhattan schools. So far, we’ve raised over $3,000 in just 4 months for PS 11, and Schoolit is by far the simplest and most effective fundraiser we’ve ever been a part of. Any school can participate, and it’s free! See if your school is involved and if not, tell them about it: www.justschoolit.com.

My school supply list from last year is as follows:
1st grade:
1 pack of glue sticks
1 paper towel roll
1 box of tissues
1 box of wet wipes
2 boxes crayola thick markers
2 boxes crayola thin makers
1 plastic two-pocket folder
1 black & white composition book
1 bx small sandwich ziplock bags
1 bx gallon size ziplock bags
1 pkg crayola crayhons
2 dz pre sharpened pencils
1 pkgs flair brand black felt tip pens

4th grade.
Every child needs to bring:
10 marble composition hardcover notebooks
1 Homework Folder (sturdy plastic coated-any color or design)
2 legal Pads (yellow lined paper, 8 ½” x 11”) (a comment, 8.5 x 11 makes them pads, not legal pads)
glue sticks (large size)
packs of BLUE ballpoint pen
2 roll of paper towels
3 box of tissues
1 box of Crayola markers, thick
1 box of Crayola markers, thin
1 box of colored pencils
5 boxes of No.2 pencils (Ticonderoga brand) sharpened
12” ruler
3 large erasers
3 rolls of Scotch tape in holders (Scotch brand)
1 box small Ziploc baggies
1 box large Ziploc baggies (gallon sized)
5 packs of Post-Its (3”x3” or larger any color-no pop up post its)
Expo Low Odor Dry Erase Markers
1 package of 8½ x 11 white or multi-colored copy paper
Clorox wipes
Index cards 3”x5” and 4”x6”

Wish List
Overhead transparencies
Expo Vis-à-vis® Wet-erase Overhead Transparency Markers, Fine tip
Liquid hand soap
Purell or any other Liquid hand sanitizer
Stapler
Clear packaging tape

** Please do not label supplies. We will be using them as a community**
Thank you
It says not to label, but when you're buying for 3 kids, you kinda have to...

7th grade:
Homeroom Supplies:
Two boxes of tissues
Two rolls of paper towels
One ream (500 sheets) of copy paper

Science:
1 1" binder
Supply of loose leaf paper (to be replenished during the year)
A green, red and yellow folder
A set of colored pencils
Glue stick
Markers

Supplies to bring to school every day:
1 Lab Planner (To be purchased from the school at the beginning of the year)
Pens (blue or black) and pencils (number 2 or mechanical)
1 flash drive (at least 512MB )
“Wite-Out” is banned in 7th grade classrooms

Spanish:
1 75-100 sheet spiral notebook
1 folder
1 Spanish-English Dictionary (keep at home)
501 Verbs (keep at home)

Humanities Supplies:
1 two-subject spiral notebook (will need to be replenished during the course of the year)
1 “Lifebook” journal
1 folder

Math:
1 spiral notebook (120 or 100 page only)
Additional graph paper (at least 15 sheets at a time)
1 “Mini-triangle Set” (with 6” ruler and protractor) from Staples
1 mini stapler
2 Yellow Highlighters
1 Model TI-34II Calculator
(No exceptions. See image on right. Available on Amazon.com or Officemax.com)
1 Compass
A set of colored pens

We actually had to buy a calculator for 6-8th at Lab. Each one costing slightly more than the other, and each one got progressively fancier. Frankly, I could have spent $125 on one and had him use it for each year, rather than close to $300 for very similar graphing calculators.

we haven't hit the fund raising for this year, i'm sure it will cost another $1000 or so.

Materials are important up to a point. But education is all about using the mind. My parents were Brits and their attitude and philosophy of education made me a superior student in a school 100 miles north of New York City in NY's Columbia county that was materially challenged. A student who learns mathematical principles without the aid of a computer may actually have a more rigorous understanding of the underlying concept. Ain't it ironic?

The biggest loss at our school (although we also lost our librarian and bring in tons of supplies) has been that of our full time early childhood social worker. It really is tragic that the cuts are taking away services that affect the quality of our children's learning environment to such a degree. It is devastating to watch! We are now filling out grants to pay her salary.

New York State spends more on education than any other state in the nation, with New Jersey and Connecticut very close behind.

Keep this in mind when you hear about "five rounds of budget cuts", "staffing cut to the bone" and the like. Much of this, while painful, is tinged with some degree of political rhetoric.

The vast majority of local school budgets consists of employee salary and benefits. NYC teachers top out above 100k in salary, with excellent benefits. In some wealthy suburban NYC districts, even the average teacher salaries top 100k. And principal salaries are often topping 200k, or even higher. Administrators can be paid even more.

The only way you keep costs under control is by keeping salary/benfits under control. Costs are enormous because salaries are quite high. Granted, I'm not advocating underpaying teachers, but the current salary/benefits structure is highest in the nation, which is why, for example, PTAs are now being asked to fund things outside of their traditional purview.

One big problem is that all schools are losing money, but only some schools are able to fundraise. In many "poor" schools, parents are unavailable to participate or even organize fundraising activities. Even if they were it wouldn't matter because people fundraise from their economic peers. Furthermore, let's see an article about how many teachers are working overtime for free, to keep programs running that would otherwise be funded.

But for many hardworking families, affordable insurance can be hard to find. The new "Penny Health" is giving you more control over your family’s health care by expanding your options for health insurance and making them more affordable.

I am 76 years old and when I went to school my parents had to pack a lunch in a bag and later in a lunch box. That way the lunch was the type of food my parents thought was the best for me.
This way the schools don't have to partisipate in serving any child with something they think is right and the responasibility belongs back to the parents. I think government at any level should stop trying to do things they think is right and the parents of a child which is their resopnsibility to raise is what should be in our freedom for all is right.

Alexander's comment is with repeating. I'm not sure if he gets his numbers exactly right, but the budget 'cuts' to which the UFT and politicians make repeated reference are in the context of an overall doublingof education spending in New York City under the current administration.

I suspect that WNYC's FOIL request will show that PTA fundraising is rarely more than 10% of a school's overall budget. And that in schools with higher percentages of kids who qualify for free or reduced price lunch, Title I money is about the same per capita as the PTA funding in more affluent schools.

We face many challenges in reforming education in New York CIty. Overall funding is probably not one of them, although the distribution of those funds may not be to everyone's liking.

Thank God people are wising up! The government should have more concern about consumers (especially children) than foisting pink slime on us. But then Reagan said that ketchup was a vegetable.

Schools might want to take hamburgers out of the lunchroom altogether, pink slime or not! http://www.alternet.org/envir... and

Let's review. We're planting 1 million trees but can't afford a Technology teacher for our NEST + M school?
Although, what is a "technology" teacher, anyway, in elementary? Even geniuses need to memorize the times tables. I'll answer that" a "technology" teacher is a gimmick somebody suggested.
Still wish the Times would examine curriculum. Do we need an entire school with a gimmicky theme we don't even implement to teach just a couple of city kids?
Or do we need to teach all city elementary kids to add, subtract, multiply and divide? To memorize times tables? To laugh at matrices and "Family Math"? Do you think Bill Gates uses "Everyday Math" every day?

I am a parent of two school aged children, one going to a public school, the other to a catholic school in NYC. I have been a teacher, college professor and public, private and international school administrator for nearly 25 years. I have to support both schools about the same amount and I do so willingly and happily - education is the most important gift we can all give our children, and we as parents, nor the government, nor the private sector invest nearly enough in public schooling. The profits of one major bank in NY last year would have covered the shortfalls in education funding several times over. Most of us pay in one month's rent less than we pay for our child's education in one year. The per pupil funding so widely touted in NYC is a farce (in the high teens to the low 20,000, depending on whose data you believe). It represents the total amount of funding to DOE divided by the total amount of students enrolled in the system. It is not in any way representative of the amount of per student funding in a given school's budget which is what is used to pay teacher salaries and instructional supplies and classroom furniture and materials. This number - that is the school's budget divided by the number of students in the school varies widely - by as much as a factor of 3 - that is some schools in NYC get about 6,000 per student while others get 17,000 per student. Given this enormous budget range, and the reality that lower funded schools typically have higher socioeconomic characteristics (i.e. richer and better educated parents - and thus higher performing students) and on top of that more highly qualified(and more expensive)faculty - higher degrees and more years of experience) - they simply don't have enough to buy basics. I am not criticizing the current need adjusted funding formula that attempts to support the higher need kids with more resources - this is morally and administratively the right approach; but the bottom range funding is simply too low. Now fortunately most of these high performing, low budget schools have parents with higher incomes - who can (on average) donate and fund raise in support of their children's education. There is no way around this and we all have to accept this responsibility. What is an increasing problem are ridiculous constraints on fundraising placed parents, by DOE bureaucracy, even by the state attorney generals rules on PA fundraising. We must all pitch in and help public schools - of all kinds, with resources from public government, corporations and private individual. And yes we need to fight the good fight for better public funding of education.

I've been on both sides of the desk, and I have to say I've been shocked the past year especially by what I've spent as a parent on middle school supplies, fees and activities. It was harder this year due to a job loss in the family, but I can't imagine what it's like for someone who struggles to get by year after year and faces increasing requests from the schools. I support public schools, and I love our schools here (I'm in Kentucky), but when I hand over money for a school trip that includes a visit to a theater, and then the class leaves early and doesn't even see the end of the program ... I just believe that schools need to look very hard at what they are asking parents to contribute and why.

We see this every day... Teachers coming out of pocket for their classroom, and being asked to purchase paper, pens, tissue, paper towels, technological equipment and more... Being a teacher owed company, we decided to make lo-tech educational tools that would save teachers time and money... Teachers shouldn't have to spend their own money for supplies they need in the classroom, but right now they have no choice. So if you have to buy classroom tools they should be affordable and effective... Our line of award winning dry erase products have a huge impact for a low cost. Check out www.kleenslate.com to learn more.

When oh when are New York City parents going to wake up and exercise their political power? Demand that we get to vote on a school budget, the way the rest of NY State gets to do. Demand that we get to vote on a school board, the way the rest of NY State gets to do. Demand that all citizens and taxpayers be admitted to all substantive school meetings such as SLT meetings - instead of letting them divide and conquer us by forcing all meetings into small settings where the press is not admitted.

This problem is not just in NY. As part of a small PTA in Pennsylvania, more than 50% of our budget goes to filling in the gaps where the school district is not providing adequate funds to support the curriculum with supplies. Education is a Constitutional right of the children. States are required to collect enough taxes to cover these expenses. By allowing our PTA and PTO's to cover these costs, we are only enabling state and local governments to hide the fact that they is shirking duties to our children.

Greetings concerned parents and tax payers,

This issue is nation-wide. Our company, Scholastic Scheduling Solutions, assists large districts to operate more efficiently in the area of master scheduling throught the entire district. You are probably asking how this ties into this discussion and the answer is after we perform a top-to-bottom evaluation of the entire process, we determine that a huge amount of revenue can be saved by exploring new bell schedules, inefficiencies or wasted labor hours, poorly trained schedule builders, etc. Large class sized can be reduced, there can be an increase in instructional time and all of this has a major effect on the bottom line. All of that valuable money we help districts save can be redirected towards areas such as supplies, athletic programs, etc. I normally don't respond to forums like this but you are all correct with your assessments. We started this company to help school districts do more with less. The government wants our kids to perform better in school, but in the next breath they are cutting budgets year after year and the hypocrisy is baffling at times.

It is incredibly inefficient for parents to be individually responsible for providing school supplies. First, school supplies are far more expensive when bought retail and piecemeal rather than in bulk. Second, it is far more work for thousands of parents to make individual purchases than for purchasing to be organized and centralized. Third, parents must pay sales tax on supplies they purchase, a burden that schools and PTAs don't have to bear because they are not-for-profit entities.

Maybe I'm weighing in too late here, but I was searching for SOLUTIONS to the problem of parents being burdened with more financial and time commitments given the decreased budgets of public schools. I am ALL FOR paying for the supplies my kids' teachers need to do the excellent job I know they are dedicated to doing. What I am against is the INEFFICIENCY of the system that has emerged, nationwide. Instead of giving each child's parent(s) a list of what to purchase (items other people have already named), why don't the schools purchase with their BULK PURCHASING POWER and their TAX-EXEMPT STATUS and simply charge the parents a classroom fee? Teachers would get what they need and parents would not all be going to purchase one container of hand sanitizer, one box of tissues, etc. Yes, we must pass the costs off onto parents (I don't want teachers to have to pay out-of-pocket), but why isn't anyone questioning the organizational structure that forces each parental unit to waste gas, time, and money to make private purchases?

So not true, my son is a scholar at Sucess 4 and he just started kindergarden. The school is amazing when it comes to Academics. I think Brooklyn doesnt want Sucess in their space because like the individual said " her daughter goes to private school" an sucess is for middle class and rich people. SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH. Sucess is like a private school only its FREE. There is so much diversity when it comes to Scholars at each Sucess school. Every individual has the same chance of getting in because u have to enter a Lottery like just about everything in New York City these days. They know nothing about your economical, social, or ffinancil back ground until u have to fill out lunch forms which is mandated by the government. May I add that parents never have to purchase school supplies, ever. I believe people are sceptical of the unknown however, get to know about sucess before u bash it. Its the best thint that ever happened to New York City children....public school has failed our children for far too long. Im a proud parent of a Success Acadamy Scholor. I suggest to all the parents in Brooklyn that always dreamed of their child going to private school, but never had the money, to take advantage because here is your chance for your child to get the same education only its FREE!