A Good Use Of $300

Being the son of an elementary school teacher, I saw first hand how much personal money was spent on tmy mom's 5th grade classroom. And she wasn't alone. Even a decade ago, teachers weree, on average, spending well over $100 of their personal money on classrooms every year. These expenses weren't for things like a new coffee cup for the teacher, but rather classroom supplies that were simply not in the school's budget.

This evening, I spoke to a friend who has a new job teaching elementary art. The first day of school, her principal walked around to each teacher, handed them an envelope and said, "For use in the classroom." Then he smiled and walked away. When my friend opened the envelope, she found a check made out to her for $300 and a short note of appreciation from the president of the PTO.

Teachers are underpaid. Period. For the amount of work they do, for the importance of their jobs and for the committment they put into their work, they're paid far, far below what they're worth. But no one who goes into education does it for the money.Low salaries are compensated by smiles from kids and the knowledge that they may, in some way, help that child to grow up and become a successful adult.

Still, no other career is more worthy of an unsolicited bit of extra money. Please consider getting involved with the PTO at your school and help out those who give so much of themselves. After all, if you're reading this, you're probably a successful product of the education system, too!