97% of teachers buy classroom supplies out of pocket

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — It’s the time of year that families are trying to work out their budget for back-to-school supplies, but parents aren’t the only ones trying to scrape together the funds— your child’s teacher might be buying their construction paper and pencils with their own money.

Underfunded schools and the expectation that they will spend their own money on supplies have become some of the main factors that are driving teachers away from the profession in droves, a problem that predated the onset of COVID-19 but was heavily exacerbated by it.

97% of American teachers purchase their classroom supplies with their own money — spending on average $673 per school year according to survey data from the Association of American Educators.

Another survey from Adopt A Classroom puts the average amount teachers spend out of pocket even higher — at $860 a year.

While 68% of teachers receive funds from their school districts to purchase supplies — an average of $294 per classroom — rising prices of school supplies amid inflation means that this money doesn’t go as far as it used to.

Both of these are more than double the Educator Expense Deduction (EED), which allows educators who work at least 900 hours during the school year to write off $300 of unreimbursed classroom expenses on their taxes, a way for teachers to offset the burden of supplying their classrooms.

These classroom expenses can be significant for teachers, who have a national average starting salary of around $44,000 and an average overall salary of $69,544 .

In Michigan, though, both of these are below the national average. Michigan teachers have an average starting salary of around $40,000 and an average overall salary of around $67,000 .

Only 7% of teachers felt that their students have what they need for academic success without spending their own money. 35% feel their students lack what is needed even after they spend generous amounts of their own money.

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