Teacher Spending on School Supplies: A State-by-State Breakdown
Spending their own money on school supplies is for teachers as integral a back-to-school ritual as classroom seating arrangements, new lesson plans, meeting parents, etc. At a time when they are standing up for more education funding and a fair salary, public school educators continue to dip into their own pockets – to the tune of at least $459 every year, according to a new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
This figure, writes EPI economist Emma García in a blog post, “does not include the dollars teachers spend but are reimbursed for by their school districts …The $459-per-teacher average is for all teachers, including the small (4.9 percent) share who do not spend any of their own money on school supplies.”
Nine out of 10 educators will not be reimbursed for their back-to-school purchases, whether it’s pencils, notebooks, whiteboards, posters, even software.
García looked at data from the 2011-12 and 2015-16 Schools and Staffing Survey survey, The earlier survey was a little more useful because it included state-by-state data. The numbers in the map – adjusted for inflation – are not indicative of a post-Great Recession spike, notes García, because spending by teachers increased in subsequent years. The 2015-16 survey shows that teachers spent on average $479 on school supplies.
California educators forked over about $664 annually. Spending by North Dakota CONTINUE READING: Teacher Spending on School Supplies: A State-by-State Breakdown