The holidays are here and parents may be figuring out what to give their favorite educator. A recent survey finds that most parents don’t give gifts or tips to their students’ teachers, and teachers don’t expect holiday gifts either.

According to a Consumer Reports survey, 53 percent of parents give their teachers nothing for the holidays, 35 percent give a gift, and 16 percent give money or a gift card, said an article on Quartz.com.

“But why not give something?” the article said.

Maralee McKee, a manners and etiquette teacher from Florida said teachers “do not make a lot of money, and an end-of-year gift to show your appreciation of all they do for your child is a nice.”

“Who else do you want to thank more than your child’s teacher, who spends more waking hours with your child than you do?” she asked. “It’s a vital relationship and one that needs to be nurtured.”

Some parents, the article said, “may look for reasons not to give anything to a teacher for the holidays, but McKee urges them to get over that, especially amidst the general excess of the holiday season.”

“If you’re being frugal, then being frugal limits what you purchase for yourself,” McKee said. “Being stingy limits what you purchase for others.”

According to the survey, “the median value of the gifts parents gave teachers in the US in 2013 was $20, but like most things, the norm depends where you live and where your child goes to school.”

Read the full survey, answer our poll and comment below. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor