Is it true that teachers have to use their own money for their classroom for school supplies etc..??

Answer 1

Yes in some of the schools I worked in I provided the students with quite a few supplies and also parents buy at the beginning of the year. It is sad, but it is becoming more and more common for Teachers and parents alike to buy their children's supplies.

Answer 2

I work as a daycare teacher, and while we are provided with a great deal more supplies than elementary school teachers (which should tell you something) I still spend my own money for things I need in my classroom. This is usually because when I submit a request for supplies it takes several weeks to actually get them and I need them sooner!

I think it's sad that all children are entitled to a free, appropriate public education and yet the fees for my children to attend public school are over $1200 a year. Where is our tax money going?

Answer 3

Wow... all I can say is YES! I was lucky enough to have the govenor of my state give EVERY public school educator a $100 visa for the purchase of school supplies. However, I spent at least $300 more before school even started. I also spend at least another $600 over the course of the year, but a lot of that won't have to be bought again. We were given some things like paper, paint, crayons, and such if they were left from the previous year. But sometimes you want to have posters on the wall.

I would say that if you are creative at all, try to make some things. I made my word wall words and my color crayons (crayons so that the students could see the color and color word) and some other things. It's just good to have a mix of store bought and made items in your room, but leave room for student work also.

Another tip - if it isn't laminated and can be.... DO IT!

Answer 4

Yes - teachers are always spending their own money, no matter how much they get from the school (we just get $75 from the PTO... and we do have a lot of supplies to take from, but it makes the classroom much more liveable for the year with some added extras.)

Word of advice: Always buy non-grade-specific materials. When I first started teaching it was in 2nd grade, but none of my materials said "2nd Grade" - which was good because the next year I taught 4th, and the following year I taught 3rd. I still use materials that I bought when teaching 2nd grade.

Good luck!

Answer 5

For the most part yes. We are given a certain amount of money each year for supplies but it varies a lot from school to school. We get $100 but that doesn't cover basics. A school a few towns over is very wealthy (public though) and can pretty much buy whatever they want. I had a friend who student-taught there and the teacher let her order a few things, she asked about budgets and the teacher basically said they had one, but it wasn't something anyone had to worry about. On the other hand there is a school that only gets $50 and that has to cover basics.

So yes, but the extent of it depends on the school.

Answer 6

Yes, you do need to supply your own classroom with materails. If you work in an area where the families can afford the basic supplies like: binders, notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons-- the school will have a supply list they will as the parents to buy.

Tissues, colored paper, posters for the classroom, books for a class library, games, and other stuff you will have to pay for.

Your school should supply you with shevles, desks and boards.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Yep. Our district does give us a small yearly sum for classroom supplies, but it is woefully inadequate. I generally just get my own supplies as I need them, because the budget money has an "expiration date" and it never lasts to the end of the year or carries over into the next year for purchase of bigger things. We got a tax break for the last 2 years to help cover some of what we spend out of pocket, but that doesn't cover it, either.

Answer 8

On average in a school year I spend $400-$500 of my own money on supplies for my classroom. I work in a private school and can order things such as desk supplies and some art supplies, but I buy all the decorations and anything extra such as stickers, prizes, books, etc.

Answer 9

depends on the supply and the school. I get all that I need for my class from the school but if want to have pencils because kids forgot them or paper for them I buy that. Also my department chair does a great jobs budgeting other departments do not have the same luck....now technology is a different issue and well once again my department chair is great but some other teachers of bought their own LCD projectors while most of us buy our own videos. I know a guy who's school will pay for 3000 copies the rest he gets to buy at kinkoes and he has no text book.

Answer 10

i'm not a teacher but i have family that is and i have heard that a lot of teachers do help provide supplies for the students and the classrooms. thanks mr. bush for no child left behind, test scores are down, children are getting dumber and there is no money for things that should be important (like education) because it is getting spent on things not important (like war). there are ways to help get money to buy supplies. you can always talk to local businesses and ask for contributions or set up a fundraiser. i did one for a baseball team, got matching funds from walmart and raised over three hundred bucks from the fundraiser alone. we did an all you can eat dinner of pancakes and sausage. the supplies for the dinner i got donated, the money went for uniforms and equipment.


i have noticed a space on 1040's for educator's expenses, so if you were to provide supplies, keep receipts because it should be tax deductible.