Inflation hitting teachers hard as cost of school supplies rises

PITTSBURGH — Teachers are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their students have the school supplies they need. But just how much are they spending out of their own pockets each year, and what needs to change nationally to make sure that teachers and classrooms succeed?

Channel 11 News sat down with a group of educators from different school districts across western Pennsylvania and had candid conversations.

Due to inflation, teachers are making 5% less than they did 10 years ago, and spending hundreds more.

According to the National Education Association, teachers spend roughly $673 each year on school supplies.

“Who pays for these supplies? Asked WPXI Reporter Talia Kirkland.

The group of educators chuckled at the question, and then unanimously pointed to themselves.

“I’m going to say between maybe between $300 to $600, is what I spend yearly [on classroom supplies],” said Joie Dusold.

We spoke with three educators:

Dusold, a special education teacher who taught in the Aliquippa School District, and now serves as the Assistant Director of Special Education for Southwood for nearly 30 years. Tracy Johns has been an educator for more than 24 years in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and Angela Girol, an educator in the Elizabeth Forward District, has worked in various school districts for two decades working in various school districts across Western Pennsylvania.

The school districts that these educators serve differ in size, demographics, and location. Yet across the board, the problem is the same, classrooms are being underfunded placing the burden on teachers.

“People don’t understand when they complain about their property taxes that they keep going up well the legislature has not increased the budget for schools,” Girol said.

Some teachers are provided with a small stipend from their district each year to help with supplies, others may utilize a tax rebate, but most school districts in our region cannot.

“My district does give me a budget, but we have seen the budget dwindle year after year as our class sizes get bigger. We are all spending out of pocket, and you can only deduct money if you make money and teachers don’t make enough,” explained Girol.

Johns works in a school district without a budget, “I have an awesome administrator and he will give us a wish list, but the majority of what I do comes out of my pocket.”

The educators we spoke with explained the difficulties but said there is help in the form of a local non-profit, Education Partnership.

Last school year, it provided 191 schools or 10 thousand teachers with critical classroom supplies free of charge.

“If it wasn’t for Ed Partnership my kids wouldn’t have had pencils or pens or makers or glue that the real big thing,” Dusold said.

To qualify 70 percent or more of a district’s student body must receive free or reduced-priced lunches. Josh Whiteside, the Executive Director for the Education Partnership, said there are still 100 more schools in the region that qualify but are not connected.

“There are many schools in Southwestern PA where the schools just can’t provide everything that their teachers need to teach effectively, the way they want, how they want,” Whiteside said.

We went shopping with the educators to see how this program is filling in the gaps for teachers, students, and the entire student village.

“I want to make the classroom as engaging as it can be, so I want to relate to their culture it’s a part of classroom management you need those supplies for engagement, for them to feel safe, for them to open up,” Johns said.

While the national average estimates $600 out-of-pocket expense, Whiteside believes teachers will spend closer to $1,000 each year.

“What’s interesting is even if teachers receive everything, they need from The Education Partnership there is still a willingness to give to their students; it’s fun things, its experiences that they want their kids to have [ that they will spend on],” Whiteside said.

With school supply costs continuing to climb, we asked our educators do they foresee a time when it will become too much.

For this group, the answer was no.

“I was born to be a teacher; I knew since second grade I was going to be a teacher,” Dusold said.

Grisol added, “Teachers need to make more money than we do, but we are not going to quit our jobs because we don’t, we always come back and work harder.”

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