UNDATED, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — With a new semester around the corner for both college and K-12 students, teachers in Michigan will need to purchase classroom supplies out of pocket.
A study by the Economic Policy Institute indicates that teachers in Michigan spend an average of $628 (adjusted for inflation) a year on classroom supplies. According to the data, this puts Michigan at the second-highest rate in the country behind California at $664.
Nationwide, the average is $459 a year.
“In all the states, more than nine out of ten teachers have some postive amount spent on school supplies,” Economist for the Economic Policy Institute Emma García said.
Although some states have a reimbursement program, such as a maximum of 98% in Hawaii, no state in the country provides a full reimbursement, meaning that most teachers are affected by this to a degree.
“There is a dysfunction in the system,” García said. “Though it’s very generous and sympathetic on the part of teachers, and it fixes this dysfunction, we have to understand that teachers go into the classrooms and these students do not have the supplies that they need.”
Although the causes are difficult to decide, the data indicates that teachers in poverty-stricken areas spend more on supplies.
It is theorized that this may be partially responsible for a teacher shortage.
“Teachers are asking for a set of improvements that vary and range from higher pay to better funding, etc.,” García said. “It’s not necesarilly good or bad that teachers are having to pay out of pocket, but it’s not helpful.”
The full report can be viewed at https://www.epi.org/blog/teachers-are-buying-school-supplies/.
