Unless you are a teacher, please don't try and tell me that $150 in books is cheap as Christmas presents. Excuse me, it's not, when you have to calculate in all the supplies you have to buy on a regular basis, simply because the majority of your students are poverty kids, including possibly taking them to the eye doctors for exams, and glasses. (Yes, one teacher at my school was about to do that for one our students.) Not to mention, all the things you are going to have to pay for, such as pictures for fundraisers to go on trips, that students themselves are too lazy to help raise money for. (78 students only have to raise $3000. Three teachers have to raise $6000. The teachers have raised about $2000, but all that is wasted, as the students haven't done there part, and so therefore technically as a whole, are in the red about $1400.)
Also keep in mind that said teacher also has to pay rent, tolls, car insurance, health insurance, gasoline, and all the other expensive, then yeah $150 in Christmas gifts can be expensive.
And keep in mind that the average teacher is generally paid less then most other positions. All because of the so called three month vacation, that is not really a vacation, considering they are quite frequently having to take Continuing Education courses, which they are paying for, not their jobs. And these courses are required to maintain their certifications every few years. And yes, it can add up expense wise, very quickly. Not to mention how much time they spend working, not just at the school, but also in their homes. During the school year, it's like 24/7 hour job. Literally.
So yeah, I'm a little ticked off, as you can guess, mainly because the other person is someone who has very little clue as to what teachers go through.
Grr.