New teacher, I cannot afford to set up my classroom…

[Anonymous]

Because they know you’ll do it.

ES Teacher

No doubt, but it just makes my job harder when I stick to my guns and don't spend some money on basics out-of-pocket. No student scissors? Then I need to pre-cut things at home and my students lose out on fine motor practice. No glue? Then we can't have interactive notebooks or build paper creations. No crayons? Then my students are not engaged and invested in their creative projects.

Last year when I ran out of brown crayons in October, students begged all winter for brown for turkeys and gingerbread men, not to mention all year for for skin color crayons. My admin and district certainly couldn't have cared less. This year I've been giving friends and relatives money to help me shop the $.50 crayons at Walmart and multicultural crayons at Office Depot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because they know you’ll do it.

ES Teacher

No doubt, but it just makes my job harder when I stick to my guns and don't spend some money on basics out-of-pocket. No student scissors? Then I need to pre-cut things at home and my students lose out on fine motor practice. No glue? Then we can't have interactive notebooks or build paper creations. No crayons? Then my students are not engaged and invested in their creative projects.

Last year when I ran out of brown crayons in October, students begged all winter for brown for turkeys and gingerbread men, not to mention all year for for skin color crayons. My admin and district certainly couldn't have cared less. This year I've been giving friends and relatives money to help me shop the $.50 crayons at Walmart and multicultural crayons at Office Depot.

Shockingly these items are on sale now and parents can purchase them
for their child to use. And please, please, please spare me “but it’s so expensive some parents can’t afford it!” Yes they can but they choose not to. They can simply buy the basics on the list - paper of some kind - pack it composition book, pencil, crayons, scissors, glue - that alone is enough. And even more shocking? The beginning of the school year is every September so it’s not a surprise.

Also for goodness sakes theirs “notebooks” or “lap books” - not needed to learn. Those “creative” projects can be awesome but as a parent most of them looked like nonsense and my kid never ever looked at it.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate your thoughts. We can certainly debate what teachers should or should not be purchasing and why, but the fact is that teachers in low-income schools often end up feeling obligated to purchase materials definitely affects their high attrition rate. My very low-income school (homeless center and EL newcomer center) has turned over its entire staff at least three times in the last six years. I've seen more teachers leave the profession in the last three years than in my previous 16 combined. I am curious if anyone has seen any data on how many people are going into grad school in education these days compared to ten years ago and what kind of crisis that will be creating in schools in the coming decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The average pay for a teacher in MD or VA is over $70k. Not exactly poverty wages.

Cool, cool, cool. Then you won't mind donating a small % of your check to your job, right? I mean, heck, it's hard for the federal government or wherever to pay for stuff too, so you won't mind kicking in a few hundred dollars each month, right?

I mean, I am very pro-teacher. But just to be clear, I am a federal employee and I spend lots of my own money on my job.

Like what? My government office has a supply room and we buy our own items if we don't like what they offer but the point is that they offer it. I've never had to buy supplies other than a specific notebook that I preferred but it's not like I'm buying binders for presentations, pencils for my office-mates, a bookshelf and books, a rug, etc...

I'm a fed and I even managed to snag a free water bottle from the insurance fair on the first day. I guess I paid for my office plant but that's totally voluntary.

What are you buying?

I have bought my own noise cancelling headphones, and headphones for zoom meetings. They are not supplied.

I also use my own phone because my agency won't give non supervisors.a phone but expect me to use my own.

But it nothing like the supplies teachers go through year after year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because they know you’ll do it.

ES Teacher

No doubt, but it just makes my job harder when I stick to my guns and don't spend some money on basics out-of-pocket. No student scissors? Then I need to pre-cut things at home and my students lose out on fine motor practice. No glue? Then we can't have interactive notebooks or build paper creations. No crayons? Then my students are not engaged and invested in their creative projects.

Last year when I ran out of brown crayons in October, students begged all winter for brown for turkeys and gingerbread men, not to mention all year for for skin color crayons. My admin and district certainly couldn't have cared less. This year I've been giving friends and relatives money to help me shop the $.50 crayons at Walmart and multicultural crayons at Office Depot.

Oh, I understand. I know it makes your lif more difficult. Still, regardless, the question was, “But why am I expected to buy the things I need to practice my profession: crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, paper, kleenex, and the 1000 books I am told (and agree I need) in my classroom library?” The answer is, they know you will do it.

ES Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you not getting paid? Most school districts pay year round even though schools out? For that alone, I say it’s fake.

She didn’t start working. Why would they pay her? First check in late August or September. I remember those early days when middle aged teachers were bringing in their used sofas for reading corners and I didn’t even have my own sofa in my shared apartment. School gave me NOTHING. It’s so hard to shake the hoarder mentality even years later. I hand cut all my bulletin board borders out of scrap paper I scrounged.

[Anonymous]

ES teacher, as I am sure you realized, it was a rhetorical question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I appreciate your thoughts. We can certainly debate what teachers should or should not be purchasing and why, but the fact is that teachers in low-income schools often end up feeling obligated to purchase materials definitely affects their high attrition rate. My very low-income school (homeless center and EL newcomer center) has turned over its entire staff at least three times in the last six years. I've seen more teachers leave the profession in the last three years than in my previous 16 combined. I am curious if anyone has seen any data on how many people are going into grad school in education these days compared to ten years ago and what kind of crisis that will be creating in schools in the coming decade.

That's terrible! They're hiring the wrong people. You have to be interested in more than just teaching to want a job like that. Don't they interview people so they know what kind of job they're actually applying for?

Where is this BTW? I'd be interested in working there.

[Anonymous]

Why are you setting up your room now? It's the middle of July.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ES teacher, as I am sure you realized, it was a rhetorical question.

Yes, but there is no sense in even asking unless the staff is willing to stop spending their own money, which they obviously aren’t willing to do. Keep paying for supplies and the admin will keep expecting it. Outside of that is there really any reason to bring it up, even rhetorically?

[Anonymous]

legos for back to school night, wallets for their class cash, prizes for the treasure box, decorations, posters, supply carts

You don’t need these things, especially at the beginning of the school year. You also mentioned a bookshelf, which I’m surprised the school doesn’t provide. Put out a call on a community but nothing page and I bet you’ll get a few offers. Pick up a few posters at the teacher store and use student work to decorate the room.

Gr. 3 Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you setting up your room now? It's the middle of July.

+1

[Anonymous]

A girl I knew did a go fund me type thing when her first job was at a low income school -- She did an excellent job explaining the demographics of the school and why she needed outside. Also, talk to the other teachers and see what they did when they were first getting started. Eventually, it would be great if you could get your school to team up with a "rich" demographic school to help your school out. My kids school sent something like 10% of fundraises to our sister school.

[Anonymous]

A friend hosted a “first classroom” virtual shower when her daughter started teaching. It was a fun way for friends to help out with her Amazon wish list. For those parents whose kids are older, it was fun to shop the back to school sales and get deals on crayons.


I will always buy decodable books for elementary teachers, even if they aren’t new.

[Anonymous]

Teachers get paid for 10 months. In some districts you can elect to have your paycheck distributed over 12 months, but you still are ony paid for 10. The paycheck does not start until several weeks into the school year.

The same people saying you don't need all this stuff for your classroom, would be the same parents complaining on back to school night how empty and void of life your classroom looks because there's nothing in it.

-former teacher who got off the hamster wheel