‘It adds up’: Out-of-pocket teacher spending hits record high

As teachers prepare for the new school year, they are buying school supplies and reaching deeper into their own pockets than ever before. “Surveys have shown that almost all teachers say they pay for supplies for their classrooms without getting reimbursed,” according to My eLearning World, a publication focused on educators. Nationwide, teachers will spend about $3 billion of their own money this year, My eLearning World reported. That is an average of $820 per teacher. “It’s not all at once, but it adds up throughout the school year,” said Karen Kraus, a science teacher at Wheaton High School, in Montgomery County, Maryland.