SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) – Construction paper, notebooks and pencils. Just a few of the items teachers will shell out their own money for. In fact, nearly all public-school teachers say that’s the case.
According to a National Center of Education Statistics study out this week, 94% of teachers said they covered the costs for classroom supplies, in the 2014-2015 school year, without reimbursement. They spent on average $479, almost double the cost of the of the $250 tax break: a law authored by Senator Susan Collins more than a decade ago.
Some teachers, however, spend even more. Findings of the same study show 7% of teachers spend about $1,000 a year.
Last year the tax bill passed by the house called for eliminating the teacher’s tax deduction. Meanwhile the Senate version of the bill sought to increase the deduction to $500. The two chambers compromised and left the tax relief law, as is.
“You do what you have to do,” says Erin Bernard, a special education teacher in South Portland. “We all view these kids as our kids.”
Bernard says she works for a great school system.
“But they can only do what they have the resources to do.”
NEWS CENTER Now took her average shopping list, like one she would use to stock up over summer break, and filled an online shopping cart. The list was as follows:
- 10 calculators
- 30 binders
- 40 notebooks
- 10 packs of crayons
- 10 packs of colored pencils
- 3 scissors
- 5 glue sticks
- Pencil sharpener
- Bean bag chair
The price in our shopping cart? $356.37. Less than the average $479 but $100 more than the tax deductible $250.
She says while she spends a lot on supplies like binders, colored pencils, and notebooks she also dishes out one quarter of her family’s weekly grocery shopping budget, on healthy snacks for her classroom. It averages out to cost her $20 a week.
“Goldfish and animal crackers….gum is a big thing because kids with attention needs, it’s like a good strategy for them to have something to chew on.”
In Maine, there are resources available to help ease the burden. Ruth's Reusable Resources, in Portland, recycles unused paper and office supplies from local businesses and makes it available for teachers, at no cost. Participating schools, however, pay a small membership fee.
And in the fall of 2017, Thanks to a $100,000 donation, more than 100 teachers in Maine were able to save their own money.
“We’re not going to let someone go without," says Bernard. "We’re just going to go out and get it.”
