As you budget for Christmas, how much should you spend on a gift for your kid’s teacher – and does a bigger, better gift, give your kid a leg up over a family that doesn’t have the money?
The Wake County Board of Education wants to make sure that any gift is "of nominal value." That doesn’t help much, does it?
According to surveys like this one from the website SheKnows, most parents give the teacher something worth between $10 and $50.
My dad was a teacher for 40 years, so I decided to ask him. He remembered a $50 Tim Hortons gift certificate.
In Wake County, the school board has proposed a limit – a max amount you can give – of $75.
A spokesperson said, "This policy puts in place structures to prevent the perception of paying for grades or favors.”
Are we to believe that teachers can be bought or influenced with lavish gifts?
One member of the board, who taught at a private school, gave an example of an over-the-top gesture. During the board's discussion, that person said, “From my own experience, I worked at a private school, where they also had this problem where one of our teachers was gifted a free flight to anywhere in the United States.”
We decided to ask a teacher: If there’s a kid going through your school who may give you a huge gift, like a plane ticket to anywhere, would that influence the way you treat them?
Turquoise LeJeune Parker, a teacher at Lakewood Elementary School in Durham, says no way.
“I can speak for a lot of teachers. That is not the expectation," she said. "Depending on the amount that a family gives, that’s the amount we support their children? That’s so ridiculous.”
Parker said she found the whole thing insulting – and says this has nothing to do with money – it’s about the principle.
“The thing that this is doing, is trying to place blame on families instead of bringing this back to the people on Jones Street. If you would fully fund public schools, and you would give teachers the pay that they deserve, we might not have to talk about something small like families giving us gift cards," she said.
Funding education is a much bigger ball of wax.
For a little context, the National Education Association ranks North Carolina 46th in the country for starting salaries for new teachers – and 36th overall for average salary.
NEA also found that 90 percent of teachers spend their own money for classroom supplies, spending an average of $500 a year on stuff for school. That level of care may be what inspires you to be generous during the holidays.
So how can you appreciate your kid’s teacher without making it seem like a bribe? There are lots of ways.
Donate school supplies. There are no limits on this. If you want to spend $1,000 on dry erase markers and donate to the class – do it.
Give a group gift. Get together with another parent or a group of parents – pool your money – and give whatever you want. As long as it’s not coming from an individual – there’s no limit.
Give more often. The proposed limit would be on any individual gift to a teacher. Give a gift a day if you’d like, but each gift must be below the limit.
The school board landed on $75 as some kind of "Goldilocks" amount – not too high, not too low.
If you want to give to your child's teacher, here's another tip: The folksy gift, like homemade porridge in an artisan bowl you bought at the fair, or some generic Starbucks mug with ground Pike Place jammed inside, isn't what most teachers want.
Do a little research. Ask if your school has a “wishlist” for teachers, or ask the teacher for her Amazon wishlist. DonorsChoose allows teachers and schools to pitch a project and get funding from the public.
When in doubt, a gift card is always welcome..
In Depth With Dan
Dan Haggerty is a reporter and anchor for WRAL. He’s won four regional Emmy awards for his anchoring and reporting. He's reported in Fort Myers, Florida; Cleveland; San Diego; Dallas; Portland, Oregon and Raleigh, North Carolina. He is proud to call the Triangle home.
Anyone who has an idea for In Depth with Dan can email him at dan@wral.com.
