'Ridiculous': Teachers spend their own money to buy supplies for first day of school

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Lauren Moskowitz's shopping list was the stuff of every kindergartner's dreams. The special-education teacher would need finger puppets, jumbo crayons and sidewalk chalk for her 5- and 6-year-olds.

About an hour and nearly $140 later, she exited a Target in suburban Washington, bags overflowing with school supplies.

She had paid for it all herself. As students head back to school, the vast majority of teachers are buying their own materials to provide kids with well-stocked classrooms and conducive learning environments.

Ninety-four percent of American public-school teachers reported paying for school supplies out of their own pocket in the 2014-15 school year, according to a Department of Education survey. Those teachers spent an average of $479.

Suburban Maryland teachers said their district does provide them with materials, but those don't last more than the first couple of months of the school year. Even then, the supplies cover only the bare necessities.

On a Sunday in late August, Moskowitz, a Montgomery County Public Schools teacher, swung around Target with her boyfriend, high school engineering teacher George Lavelle. Moskowitz teaches kindergartners with special needs at Carl Sandburg Learning Center in Rockville, Maryland, half an hour outside Washington.

Moskowitz said her special-needs classroom has more needs than other classrooms, but the county allocates cash only on a per-student basis across the district.

“Your money goes a lot further in a gen-ed school than in a special-needs school,” Moskowitz said. For instance, she said, adaptive scissors, for children with delays in fine-motor skills, cost more than regular scissors.

Food was a big part of Moskowitz’s list, from Apple Jacks to Veggie Straws to pretzels, because her students are often hungry during times that don't fall neatly into lunch breaks.

Along with baby wipes for students who aren't potty-trained, Moskowitz bought markers, sidewalk chalk and jumbo crayons – good for children in occupational therapy. She paid for it all out of her $90,000 salary, which accounts for her master's degree and 15 years' experience.

Two days later, Montgomery County math teacher Ali Daniels was on a similar mission, darting between Target and Staples in Greenbelt, Maryland. For Daniels, creating a positive classroom environment is a big reason she’s spending her money on school supplies. Along with classic back-to-school necessities, Daniels also bought scents for her Glade candle warmer: Clean Linen and Sheer Vanilla Embrace.

“They walk into my room; it’s got a pleasant vibe. It’s going to have a pleasant smell,” Daniels said. “Middle school is a trying time, and I want them to feel comfortable and happy, and I also want to feel comfortable and happy.”

At Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, where Daniels teaches sixth- and seventh-grade math, she said 15 to 20 children enter her classroom with no supplies from home. Eastern qualifies for Title I money from federal government funding, which goes to schools with large concentrations of students from low-income families.

During shopping trips at Staples and Target, Daniels bought notebooks, binders and pencils for needy students.In a given year, Daniels estimated she spends $500 to $1,000 of her own money on school supplies. Her annual salary: $55,927.

“It speaks to the passion teachers have and that we want our children to succeed,” Daniels said. “They're not going to be able to succeed as well as they could if they’re not given the supplies they need.”

As she was checking out from Staples with a bill of more than $170, Daniels received an unexpected kindness. The cashier gave the teacher a special 10% discount for employees as she thanked Daniels for serving the community.

“Teachers are unsung heroes because they do so much and they care so much,” the cashier said.

In all, Daniels spent $152.31 at Staples and $180.91 at Target.Although their spending numbers fall short of the Department of Education survey’s average of about $500, both Daniels and Moskowitz said their shopping was far from done.

Both teachers planned to shop on Amazon or elsewhere on the internet. They're looking for discounts on items such as golf pencils for children learning how to write and makeup remover for cleaning dry erase boards.

Both said their back-to-school shopping trips would be the first of many self-funded outings to restock on supplies throughout the year – "ridiculous," Moskowitz said.

“If we were paid appropriately to begin with, that’s one thing," she said. "We're not paid comparable to our education level."

Works Cited

Cohen, M. (2019, August 29). 'Ridiculous': Teachers spend their own money to buy supplies for first day of school. Retrieved from USA Today : https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/08/29/teacher-first-day-school-supplies-list-target-staples-buy-shopping/2082791001/