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Calling all teachers! You are going to want to check this out. If you aren’t a teacher, be sure to share this with your teacher friends and family.

As many of you know, I am married to the hardest working Jr High (Middle School) teacher ever! He spends so much time and energy outside of “normal school time” planning, grading papers, and just thinking about how he can help “his kids” succeed. Every year I’m always grabbing extra school supplies for him to take to his classroom for those kids who don’t show up with the supplies that they need. Do we need to do it, some would say no, but we say YES because my husband’s goal is for all of his students to learn to love learning in his classroom.

Check out this Teacher Spending Study over at Savings.com

The average amount teachers spend without getting reimbursed is $511. One in four teachers spends over $750 on supplies.
A quarter of teachers say their schools don’t provide any funds at all for classroom supplies.
Only 25 percent of students are sent to school with all or most of what’s requested on back-to-school supply lists given to their parents.

For teachers that do spend their own money outfitting their classrooms, they shell out an average of $19 per student, while their schools budget about $11 per student. That means teachers are spending nearly double per student than schools are to cover the cost of supplies and other items that fall outside the school’s budget.

The average teacher spends about $120 per year on classroom decor, but the most expensive category on average is non-consumable classroom supplies. This is a broad category that includes books, curriculum, equipment, and software but excludes consumable supplies like pencils or notebooks. The average teacher spends more than $135 per year on non-consumable classroom supplies.

Average teacher spending per category

Non-consumable classroom supplies (books, curriculum, equipment, software)	$136
Classroom décor	$121
Consumable student supplies (pencils, notebooks, facial tissue)	$100
Food and snacks	$85
Prizes and rewards	$84
Cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer	$50

But You Can Help!!

Nominate a teacher you know for a chance to win one of four $500 prizes to help them set up their classroom from Savings.com’s Great Teacher Giveback. Or, if you are a teacher, you can nominate yourself. Nominations are due by August 19th.