Students in many areas of the country have already gone back to school, and others are getting ready. But whenever the school year starts, one thing every part of the United States has in common is that teachers are spending hundreds of dollars of their own money on classroom supplies.
Multiple surveys in recent years have found that basic fact, but one, the National Center for Education Statistics’ 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey, broke it down by state, and the Economic Policy Institute has adjusted for inflation and put it on a map, so you can see how much teachers in your state are spending. It ranges from a low of $327 in North Dakota to a high of $664 in California. That’s the money they spend out of pocket, not what they’re reimbursed for, and it’s an average that factors in the just under 5% of teachers who don’t spend anything.
The lowest percent of teachers spending money out of their own pockets was in Mississippi, where 91% did so. Data from 2015-2016 shows an increase in spending from 2011-2012, and that teachers in high-poverty schools spend more than teachers in low-poverty schools.