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The hidden costs of public school

One mom tracks all the things a free education doesn’t cover: pencils, field trips, athletic fees, boxes of Kleenex, and more.

I HAD A GEEK-LIKE adoration for new notebooks when I was a kid. Those colorful covers. The untouched pages. And then Mead came out with the Trapper Keeper, and legions of kids joined the ranks. So when it came time for my daughter to enter school and make that late summer pilgrimage to Kmart for school supplies, I was giddy.

Then her teacher sent the list of must-get items.

Eleven years and another child later, my elation has turned to dread and the lists have gotten longer and more elaborate. My husband and I scour the shelves at dollar stores, and instead of sharing our son's joy at finding a Diary of a Wimpy Kid notebook, we engage in a lengthy debate about whether the cheaper markers will dry out faster than the Crayolas. We wait in customer service lines to return items found cheaper elsewhere, and plod as a family to several stores before finding the three white binders — they must be 2-inch ones — required for our fourth-grader. The two-subject notebooks, however, are nowhere to be found, so my husband, a conspiratorial look in his eye, suggests we buy the three-subject and tear one section out. And we know what comes next: months of opening our wallets to pay for athletic fees, field trips, fund-raisers, and still more supplies.

Public school educators are expected to do more with less, and parents are required to do more. We've graduated from Trapper Keepers to thumb drives, and the economic outlook for schools remains bleak.

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We never did buy that Diary of a Wimpy Kid notebook. It wasn't on the list. Here's a full accounting of what my family spent in a year, August to August, plus the demands on parents in other districts.

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FROM MANY POCKETS

$688.62

Average amount US parent of child K-12 is expected to shell out this back-to-school season on clothing and school supplies — 14 percent increase over last year

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97%

Number of US teachers who have used own money to pay for classroom supplies

$477

Average amount US teachers spent per school year

$70,340

Average teacher's salary in Massachusetts in 2010-2011

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WHAT MY FAMILY SPENT ON SCHOOL SUPPLIES IN AUGUST 2012

$88.08

On our fourth-grade son's supplies ($58.08), backpack, and lunch bag

$86.75

On our ninth-grade daughter's supplies ($31.75), backpack, and lunch bag

WHAT WE SPENT ON FUNDRAISERS/SCHOOL-RELATED FUNCTIONS LAST YEAR

$308

For our son, including potholders and water bottle for fund-raiser ($37), tropical shirt for International Night ($20), book fairs ($40), and gift-wrap fund-raiser ($16)

$1,107

For our daughter, including fee to play junior varsity field hockey ($375), charge to join chorus ($65), gift-card fund-raiser ($105), and Renaissance costume for project ($45)

WHAT OTHERS SPEND ON SUPPLIES

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BOSTON

TechBoston Academy

Grade 9

$14.76

Supply list:

> pens

> highlighters

> lined notebook paper

> 3-ring binder

> single-subject notebook

Number of pupils in district (2011) 65,320

Average per-pupil expenditure (2010-2011) $16,902

Average single-family property tax bill (2011) $3,155

District's estimated state funding (FY 2011) $218,353,422

FOXBOROUGH

Ahern Middle School

Grade 6

$79.01

SUTTON

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Sutton Elementary School

Grade 5

$130.84

Supply list:

> sharpened pencils

> enclosed pencil sharpener

> colored pencils

> markers

> 2 thin black Sharpies

> highlighters

> red pens

> small pencil box

> erasers

> 1 folder of each color: purple, yellow, blue, green, orange, red

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> homework folder

> 3-ring binder

> dry-erase board

> dry-erase markers

> felt square or sock to use instead of dry-eraser

> glue sticks (6-8 minimum)

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> 4 Scotch tapes

> index cards

> Post-it notes

> student agenda

> scissors

> ruler

> protractor

> compass

> 4 boxes of tissues

> 2 large containers Clorox wipes

Number of pupils in district (2011) 1,655

Average per-pupil expenditure (2010-11) $10,796

Average single-family property tax bill (2011) $4,328

District's estimated state funding (FY 2011) $5,356,845

TOPSFIELD

Proctor Elementary School

Grade 4

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$51.31

WELLESLEY

Wellesley Middle School

Grade 7

$60.63

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SOME RELIEF

30,000

Number of backpacks filled with school supplies the nonprofit Cradles to Crayons Ready for School program distributed locally this year.

What's included in the grades 5-to-8 backpacks, which would retail for about $50, including pack:

> 4 pencils

> pencil sharpener

> 2 erasers

> pack of crayons

> 2 notebooks

> 2 folders

> glue stick

> scissors

> handwritten note from community member encouraging child to have great first day of school, among other inspirational words

25%

Segment of student body that participated in Staples' SchoolKidz supply program at Hollis Elementary School in Braintree this year. Parents committed to buying package of supplies, which was waiting for children on first day.

20%

Amount parents saved on supplies through program

$600

Amount PTO raised via program

Sources: National Education Association 2005-06 survey; Massachusetts Department of Education; National Retail Federation; Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

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Note: To determine costs of school lists, we shopped online in September.

Eileen McEleney Woods is a Globe Magazine copy editor whose children are in the Mendon-Upton Regional School District. E-mail her at ewoods@globe.com.