Teaching isn’t a profession that you can just walk into and expect to make the big bucks, and most teachers know this. A lot of new teachers most likely won’t find out until they step into their classroom for the first time that besides making pretty low amounts of dough, they will also be using cash out of their own pockets for school supplies throughout the year. I don’t know a lot of other professions that spend the amount that teachers do on supplies. I think you may be amazed at just how much a teacher spends per year for her classroom.
On average, teachers spend almost 175 dollars on student incentives such as rewards and prizes for students who earn them. Teachers spend over 100 dollars a year on small school supplies such as pencils and crayons. It doesn’t stop there. The average teacher spends over 250 dollars for personal books and videos for classroom libraries, over 160 dollars a year for classroom equipment and over 200 dollars per year on lesson materials. These materials would be things such as food or other manipulatives students may use for a classroom lesson like a science experiment or a math activity. All of this comes out of the teacher’s pocket.
I am still not done, are you surprised? Teachers spend even more than what is listed above. The average teachers spends around 35 dollars for non-classroom supplies such as toilet paper or Kleenex, over 65 dollars a year for expenses for their students, such as paying off a library fine or for a field trip, and they spend over 200 dollars on other expenses besides these listed. Do you know how much that boils down to over the course of a year?
On average, teachers shell out almost 1200 dollars of their own money in non-reimbursed expenses for the school year. Many teachers spend much more, some as much as 3000 dollars out of their own pockets. That is a lot of money and it isn’t reimbursed. Teachers can deduct 250 dollars of that from their taxes come tax time, but I have heard a rumor that congress wants to get rid of this tax deduction.
Regardless, do you know of many other jobs that don’t pay superbly like teaching in which the person must spend money out of their own pockets to make the most of their career and classroom? I don’t. Perhaps people don’t realize just how much of their own money teachers spend. Teachers don’t spend the money to give themselves something to complain about or so people will feel sorry for them. Teachers spend this extra money because they care. They care about kids and they want the students classroom experience to be the best possible. This is why teachers shell out their own dough for classroom supplies and other items throughout the year.
Teaching certainly isn’t a great paying career and it can also be an expensive one for the teacher!
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