This is something that falls into the gigantic realm of "it seems like a good idea". The theory goes, if everyone shares from a group resource of class supplies, then the kids who either cannot afford supplies, or cannot afford them on a regular basis are able to still take part in classroom activities. It also exists to prevent arguments in the early grades of "it's mine, no it's mine" syndrome.

There is one flaw to this that comes out at the start, and that is the "rule" that every child has to pay in to get something. So if little Billy wants to use the crayons, he has got to bring some in for everyone to share. Straight from the start this practice begins to undermined the whole reason for the community use of school supplies.

Then next problem that arises after a few months of this is the loss of responsibility. If little Sue keeps leaving the caps off her dry erase markers, or little Billy keeps using them to color on his shoes and they find themselves time and time again with dead markers, what do they learn? With the current way of things, they learn to go over to the bucket and get a new one, and if little Josh has been responsible with his markers, there are non left when he needs to get a new one. So in the end, Sue and Billy lean that there are no consequences for their actions, and Josh learns that to behave responsible gets you screwed over.

The last problem that rears it's ugly head is in the parents who actually do provide new supplies after the teacher has sent home desperate pleas for help. Suddenly we see the behaviors of the kids come full circle in the way their parents react to these letters. The kids who blow through their supplies with no regard for responsibility or consequences generally are the kids who's parents never send in new supplies. The kids who actually use their supplies responsibly, who seem to be a small group, are the ones who's parents cough up new supplies whether they can afford it or not. Funny how these behaviors learned so early in life are seem reflected in the parents isn't it?