Imagine telling our police officers they would have to provide their own patrol cars or telling firefighters they would have to buy their own fire hoses. Would we ever ask Air Force pilots to provide their own planes or soldiers to buy their own bullets?

It’s a universally-accepted idea that we are obligated to provide those in public service the tools and equipment necessary to do the job.

There is one glaring exception, however.

Each year, we ask our teachers to purchase many of the items they use in the classroom out of their own pockets.

Our state legislature has consistently failed to provide the funds for those essentials, so it now falls on those of us who value education and the work our teachers do in the classroom every day to rally to their aid.

This year, the United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee County used its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to put together packages of donated classroom supplies for teachers. Of the 700 teachers in the two counties, 170 teachers signed up for the donations, which include dry erase markers, color copy paper, tissue, chalk and other materials needed in the classroom every day.

The United Way has been working on the project since December, but donations waned during the Christmas season when the demand for donations for Christmas-related projects became a higher priority.

But by the end of the day Monday, the Day of Service had put together only enough boxes of supplies to equip 50 of those 170 teachers who asked for help.

Will those requests go unanswered?

It’s up to us now.

Executive director Renee Sanders said United Way will continue to seek and process donations of classroom supplies or cash donations for the project. Items can be dropped off at the United Way office at 223 22nd St. North in Columbus from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., this week and next week. Cash donations can be made online. Sanders said “tangible” donations will be accepted from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. this week and next week at the United Way office, located at 223 22nd Street North. Those who would prefer to donate money can do so at www.uwlc-ms.org.

We urge our citizens to respond as they would if we learned that our firefighters or police were in need of the essential tool of their jobs.

Teachers in Clay and Oktibbeha counties need those supplies too. We encourage those who live in those areas to contact their local schools and ask what their teachers need.

If you believe in education, you must also believe our teachers should be equipped for the job.

Here’s your chance to prove it. When a lot of us contribute just a little, it becomes something big.

Let’s do this for our teachers and for our kids.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.