Classes at my college start on Wednesday. It's Labor Day? I can't believe summer has gone by this fast. Wasn't May just yesterday? Although a new academic year is not without promise, there was still so much SUMMER stuff I just didn't get to do!
I started thinking as I paid a fuel charge recently for a repair job that we educators have to buy fuel to get to work, too. Why can't we recoup some of this payout? Since many businesses now are passing expeneses on to consumers via fees and surcharges, I'm sure we educators could be doing the same. How about:
Caffeine fee - all that coffee to keep us up while grading papers late into the night costs money
Text-hauling surcharge - to be levied when textbooks are heavy enough for weight training; Math texts and English anthologies are particularly susceptible
Consultation fee - hey, committee work and answering surveys is time consuming
Technology surcharge- applicable when any of our available technologies (copiers, computer presentation systems, etc.) malfunction
Restocking fee - a surcharge for reactivating students' unused brain cells after a vacation
Air Purifier surcharge - will finance stations where educators can catch a few breaths away from chalk dust or dry-erase marker fumes
and of course -
Diplomacy fee -for handling the varied constituencies of students, parents, administrators, and our communities with tact.
At a yard sale the other weekend, I saw this daisy jar. Since it fit the theme of this blog, I just couldn't resist!
