Back to school: Utah teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies
Aug 19, 2024, 4:00 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — Back-to-school isn’t just hard on parents’ wallets. Utah teachers often spend hundreds of their own dollars on basic school supplies.
Brad Asay, the American Federation of Teachers’ Utah president, said he’s known many teachers who’ve spent hundreds to a thousand dollars out of their own pockets on classroom supplies.
He added it’s one of the aspects of teaching that could be steering people away from the profession.
“This is why I believe we see a migration away from teaching,” Asay said. “We are seeing so many outside attacks on public education, on teachers, what they do, what they ask for, what’s happening. It’s difficult because it’s become a political issue.”
Some teachers are using GoFundMe or Amazon wish lists to help gather supplies. Other teachers have become master grant writers in order to receive school supplies.
However, Asay said most teachers don’t want to have to ask parents for help because they know finances are tight for everyone.
“They hate to do that. They hate sending out those lists and asking for contributions like tissues, basic things in the classroom, pencils, pens. It’s awful for us to have to go out and ask parents because we know right now with the economy everyone is stretched to the limit,” he said.
School funding is mostly spent on items such as salaries and building maintenance. It usually runs dry before it makes it down to the classroom level.
