Dude, you can spend a little time going to various areas around the country, looking up school supply lists and see how much they fluctuate between different areas, with different requirements.. It isn't rocket science. Low funding, or high funding doesn't really indicate anything if you don't know how the money is being spent. There are many high funded areas that have outrageous supply lists because of how they use that money, with some having fancy brand new schools being built. There are a lot of low funded areas that have schools that are falling apart or need replaced. There is more to the equation than just school supplies that dictates where that money goes in an area.
Why would your company be involve with school supply donations based on the quality of those items? How would they know anything about it, unless your company is part of the public education system? IF that is the case, you are bias, because you have been lead to believe you have to have name brand school supplies. If not, where do you think they got that excuse from? What's funny, is I bought all of my kids supplies at Walmart. Never had an issue with quality as you describe. Hmm.. maybe it's a local problem for you. OF course, I have never seen a #2 pencil cut up a piece of paper like a razer, unless it wasn't sharpened properly, where the wood hit the paper rather than the #2 lead..
Who said anything about community sharing had anything to do with shitty supplies? Parents buy what they can afford.. it has nothing to do with community sharing.. I understand why they do community sharing. But that wasn't a thing when we where in school, because school supply lists were reasonable and affordable for everyone. But really, you are adding stuff that was never said or implied, all to basically argue about quality of supplies.. Which really has nothing to do with my point of all levels of education are out of control.
I am curios, how do you know what other parents can afford, or not afford? It's impossible for you to know anything about their financial situation or what their obligations are, as you have no way of knowing such information unless you are directly involved in their finances.