With no deal on teacher evaluations, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented a new budget that eliminates 2500 teaching positions, after school programs, books and other classroom supplies.

Back-to-school sales – online and at the local store – are beckoning families who need that new uniform or pair of sneakers, not to mention the items on the request list from school.

One of the many big changes coming to the city schools next year is the revamping of the special education program, which calls for more inclusion classrooms, with special education classes reserved for only the most severely disabled students. Now comes word that the city is creating a hot line so that parents can easily reach education officials if they have questions or problems with their child’s placement or services that can’t be addressed by the school.

Despite the long-held ideal that public education should be free, parents in New York City are finding themselves paying for an increasing number of things, like class trips and basic supplies.

After five years of cuts to public school budgets, parents say they are being pressed for more supplies, support and dollars than ever, and many are spending hundreds of dollars, and in some cases, thousands, a year on school-related items. This is the first in a series of posts planned by SchoolBook on the rising cost of public school, originating with our readers’ responses.

Parents who are responding to a SchoolBook survey are ticking off their expenses: Overnight trips. After-school programs. School photos. And of course glue sticks and disinfecting wipes. To top it all off, many parents say, they are being asked for a “suggested” contribution to the school fund or to the PTA, or a donation to the school fund-raiser, which can run into thousands of dollars. What are you paying for? Respond to our survey.

Requests for flash drives, copy paper and lots of cleaning supplies caught our eye on a glance through dozens of lists from teachers and schools for back-to-school supplies. What’s on your list?

The aisles of Barclay School Supplies in Brooklyn are less crowded than usual this year, now that the city eliminated a program to reimburse teachers for school supplies. In an audio slideshow, teachers lament the loss but continue to shop.