Teachers struggle with burden of covering cost of crucial school supplies

Patrick Scott and Kristin Dood, both third grade teachers in Michigan's Northville Public School district, will do whatever it takes to make sure their students have the supplies they need to succeed during the school year, even if that means tapping into their personal funds every year.   

They are among droves of teachers all across the nation who do so. 

While Dood and Scott, both veteran teachers, would prefer not to foot the extra expense, which they say can cost them upward of $1,000 per year, they also do not think the burden should be put on parents either. 

"I want to do this for the kids because if I'm not doing this for the kids, it's not going to happen," Scott said. 

Danielle Pietrandrea, a fifth grade teacher in the same district, carries the same burden, shelling out hundreds of dollars of her own money each year to supply her classroom with the things needed to help her children. 

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"Our district provides us with around $150 for the year to cover classroom costs. That is enough to buy a couple posters, maybe a border set for a bulletin board and some markers and pens," Pietrandrea said. 

Pietrandrea said that the district supplies text books and guided reading books for lessons, but it does not include the books in their personal classroom libraries that students select from. 

Dood and Scott send out a list for parents at the start of the year. However, even with those initial supplies covered, they are shelling out a significant amount to replace them throughout the year. For instance, there are certain items that "disappear quickly," such as scissors, crayons and pencils, according to Dood. 

"Parents will purchase all these things at the start of the year. And then within the first half of the year, it's all gone," Scott added.

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Scott does not believe teachers should continuously ask parents to buy more materials as they run out. "So a lot of times during the summer months, teachers go around trying to find the pen deals…to stock up on these things," he added.

If teachers want to do something special for the kids, like a reward box or special project, that comes out of their own pocket too. 

According to Dood and Scott, these costs are even harder to swallow when first starting out, because teachers are paid significantly less, and in most cases, have an entire classroom library to start building. 

The teachers underscored that their issue is not with the district, nor is this problem unique to this area. It is a challenge teachers face nationwide, as public schools are severely underfunded. 

In fact, Scott says they are better off than some school districts that only give out one box of copypaper for the whole year.

National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle told FOX Business that because public schools are under-resourced, "there is an unfortunate expectation that educators will spend their own money on school supplies and equipment."

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That should not be the case, especially given how educators have been chronically underappreciated and underpaid for decades, she added. 

"It disrespects educators as professionals and undermines their dedication to students," Pringle said. "We don't ask nurses and doctors to provide their own equipment for doing their jobs."

Pringle said teachers and school staff always put their needs first and "deserve respect and deserve to be paid as the professionals they are."

According to the NEA's 2024 educator pay report, the average teacher pay has not kept pace with inflation over the past decade even with "record-level increases in some states." 

In fact, when adjusting for inflation, teachers are making 5% less on average than they did 10 years ago. The national average salary is $69,544, but the average starting salary sits at $44,530, according to NEA data. 

A majority of districts, about 77%, offer starting salaries under $50,000. Only 16.6% of districts offer salaries over $100,000, NEA reported. 

Pietrandrea, Dood and Scott said that the government needs to do more to provide adequate funding for schools so they can get necessary materials for teachers. 

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"I can't think of any other job where workers are paying for the necessary items to do their jobs,"  Pietrandrea said.

Michael Nguyen, executive director of Teach For America Milwaukee, agrees, saying that "stronger federal and state funding is imperative for schools to equip teachers and classrooms with the necessary resources for students to thrive." 

In Wisonsin, for instance, Nguyen said there are over 60 districts that sought referendums to raise taxes to fund basic operations including classroom resources and staff salaries. 

"The better our schools are funded at federal and state levels, the less likely we ask teachers who are responsible for the well-being of our nation's children to own the fiscal responsibilities as well," Nguyen said.