Why does the district buy software teachers don't want?
Administrators often bypass educators to adopt the cheapest curriculum available or buy into programs pitched by outside companies. Instead of asking what classrooms actually need, schools waste money on unwanted hardware and website subscriptions that fail to gain buy-in from staff and students. Rather than scrapping these tools, districts double down on their investments by forcing teachers to use the products and attend mandatory meetings with company representatives.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1quietly ignoring or not using the mandated software
- 2lobbying the principal to express dislike for the product
- 3checking employment contracts or consulting the union
- 4letting slip to students and families that the district is mandating the tools
- 5Give them PBIS points
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My wife teaches middle school. Somebody sold her district on a thing that's supposed to help grade student writing so teachers can "focus on relationships." There was a PD day about it, now it's part of what she has to use.”source ↗
“Our science dept has had this issue - school spent a ton of money on a website subscription none of us wanted and everyone has found they quite dislike.”source ↗
“They never ask what we need or want.”source ↗
“Our district wasted a ton of taxpayer money on a Khan Academy program that has had zero buy in from staff and students alike.”source ↗
“Rather than scrapping it, they’ve continued doubling down on their investment and regularly force us to attend Zoom meetings with representatives from the company.”source ↗
“Our district was adopting a new science curriculum a couple of years ago. They had a selection committee made of teachers that reviewed each choice. There were a couple of options the committee liked, and the cheapest option. In the end the district adopted the cheapest curriculum which no teacher voted for.”source ↗
“Nobody had ever asked if I wanted a Promethean Board, or even let anyone know that getting one was a possibility, but there it was, right front and center, mounted on top of the lecture outline I had written out Friday afternoon once school let out to get a head start on the next week.”source ↗
“I can't afford to see professional football with my own kid. This profession is so fucking discouraging”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why am I expected to buy my own classroom supplies?
- 3Why do mandated teaching methods fail in the classroom?
- 15Why is the new school curriculum so bloated?
- 3Special education pull-out services during core instruction time
- 16Why pay for an expensive SEO suite when you barely use it?
- 7How to stop students from scrolling phones during class