Shana Danielson, a music teacher at Bermudian Springs Middle School near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, admits that she spent “silly amounts” of her money on artificial plants to turn her Cinderblock Wall classrooms into a cozy jungle. Her son donated many of the stuffed animals peeking out the leaves at students who were practicing.
She also loves to buy props that add pizza to band performances, including cutouts of penguins who were on stage when students performed “Penguin Promenade” from 2024-25.
“I feel embarrassed to admit that I spent like $50,” she said. “But you should have seen joy in their faces.”
Teachers like Danielson can spend hundreds of dollars from their pockets trying to make learning fun for their students. Other teachers may spend just as much on necessary school supplies, such as pencils and books, especially at low-income schools where families cannot afford to buy their materials. Some teachers also buy snacks in the classroom. They know that children need fuel to concentrate.
“Teachers not only expect students to fill in the gaps in which they can’t get their school supplies, but also expect them to buy pencils, notebooks and pens. These items are constantly replaced by them. Okañas spent three years as a teacher before switching careers.
From 2024-25, teachers spent an average of $884, totaling $33.5 billion on cleaning supplies, prizes, snacks, decorations, books, pens, paper, and hand sanitizers, prizes, snacks and decorations. In an adoption survey, teachers spent an average of $895 on supplying schools – an increase of 49% since 2015.
The teacher told USA Today Network that the amounts they spend vary. Other educators rely on local grants, donations, online wish lists through Amazon, and employ classrooms, donor selection and other platforms to stock classrooms.
One teacher near Seattle promoted the wish list of other teachers online, and Emmy Award-winning actress Kristen Bell noticed. Bell cleared a portion of his teacher wish list on Salastair’s website last year, and Bell recently gave him $25,000 to clear his teacher wish list ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.
“Every year, most teachers use their pay to make sure school is a happy and safe place for their children,” Bell wrote in an Instagram post on August 15th.
“I was shocked,” said Staircase of getting Bell’s attention for the first time. “I thought it was a fake at first.”
Stair enjoys helping fellow teachers get school supplies, but she said there are many other issues with education that puts a strain on teachers.
“I can’t necessarily make huge, systematic changes overnight, but hopefully it can bring awareness to people who don’t understand how much their teachers have to invest,” said Stairway.
From 2023 to 2024, the national average public school teacher salaries rose 3.8% to $72,030, according to the latest National Education Association Educator Pay in America Report. But the average teacher salaries haven’t kept up to inflation, the report found, with nearly 17% of American school districts offering starting salaries of less than $40,000.
“America needs to do better when funding schools and paying what is appropriate for teachers,” said Princess Moss, the association’s vice president.
“Teachers are going to do what they need to ensure that their students have what they need to survive and thrive,” Moss said.
“I don’t think money should protect anyone… I should learn.”
Danielson said he spends around $400 to $600 each year on students. Her district is giving a bit of an annual budget to strengthen instrument inventory in her classrooms, but the funds are primarily for approved vendors selling new instruments. She can’t use this money to photograph cheap discoveries from eBay and doesn’t grow as much as she wants.
So, when she comes across a trombone on a high-quality flute or garage sale on the Facebook Marketplace, sometimes she gets soaked up with personal money.
“I’m very frustrated,” she said. “I don’t think money should prevent someone from loving or learning music.”
Teachers are “under pressure,” said Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“They need more resources to make the classroom a safe and comfortable place where students need to learn,” Weingarten said. “Are other experts being asked to fund their work like teachers?”
At Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, California, history teacher Perra Penal Bar estimates that it is $1,800 on a $1,800 out-of-pocket expense annually for classroom basics, club costs and items to make her room more welcoming.
She does not ask her family to contribute or post online wish lists. Many of her students come from immigrant families working in farming, and often face financial difficulties.
Budget cuts and inflation add to the challenges only. But it said it was worth it, especially when she even saw the passive learners motivated by the activities she could offer, Penalbar said.
“That’s not how much you’re coming out of it,” Penalbar said. “It’s about what you’re trying to keep giving in the future, and I hope they take it with them.”
This counselor spent $300 per month nursing, clothing students
Teachers aren’t the only school employees who spend their money to help students.
Lakesha Bear Myers, a social worker for the Central Pennsylvania school district, said she became an expert coupon clipper and bargain hunter to restock food and clothes for students.
Bear Myers, who has been working at Reynolds Middle School in Lancaster since 2017, said he bought a lot of school supplies at Staples during store clearance and grabbed 40 sweatshirts from Coles because it was once a sudden markdown.
These findings are kept in a small office that she calls the “care closet.” Here, students can view toiletries, socks, underwear, food, shoes and other items that their family and family needs.
She said 40-50 students would come to her for breakfast, lunch or snacks every day.
Bair-Myers relied on his own money of about $300 a month and about $300 a month when he was eating 10 children a day. However, in recent years, the needs of her community have increased dramatically. Now she said she’s getting help from community organizations that contribute to food and financial contributions.
“It creates a lot of stress and anxiety because teachers face the same financial hurdles that our students’ families feel,” Baremyers said.
Support teachers connect the community
He said that tariffs could affect grades, especially on items such as backpacks, laptops, clothing, shoes, pencils and pens. In an adoption survey, eight in 10 teachers said inflation and rising costs of school supplies are concerns.
Also, a recent US News & World Report survey found that parents may be willing to help teachers due to rising costs.
Research data shows that planning to spend between $101 and $300 per child while shopping for schools has fallen from 52% last year to 41% this year. More than a third of caregivers said they would only donate under $20 to their children’s classrooms for supplies this year.
Still, Ocañas suggests that if teachers need it, they reach out to their community for help.
Given the opportunity in Covington, Kentucky, the community has come out full force to support teachers during the school supply event in August. The Kenton County Public Library Branch in Covington discovered surplus of gently used supplies while rebuilding the building, and community members donated other new and used items to the cause. Dagmar Morales, the branch’s programming coordinator, said 85 teachers and homeschool families picked up supplies during the event.
Morales estimates supplies added up to about $10,000. The teacher told her they felt overwhelmed by the support, she said. She hopes the library will stop the event again next year.
“It was an event that brought together the community,” Morales said.
Madeline Mitchell’s role in covering women and caregiving economy at USA Today is supported by partnership with extremely and Journalism Funding Partner. Funders do not provide editor input.
You reach Madeline with memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ x.
