My FD considers subscriptions to be training - so they get paid for with Tax Payer $. We get one for free from Jems (I'm not sure how) and the district pays for a second copy. We can actually get CME's from some of the courses they have with quizzes in the magazine.
I would absolutely subscribe to JEMS. Like many trade magazines, it has lots of ads, but in general there is a wealth of information in it, and lots of innovative ideas.
My parents used to save the National Geographics they got when I was a kid. I save my JEMS magazines, and actually find myself looking back through them for articles and such.