Should teachers have to buy supplies with their paychecks?

Hi there! For me I think it is really unfair for the teachers to use their salary for the school stuffs needed in teaching. It should be provided by the school itself. But maybe schools also has difficulties in providing these supplies due to lack of funds and government help maybe. Maybe teachers in your school should unite and meet with school officials and lay down all your complains. I think you can also ask help with the Department of Education in your country and ask for funding. I have an aunt whose been teaching at a public school for more than 20 years now. She buys everything her classroom needs. From school supplies, teaching materials, electric fans to maintaining her classroom cause every year she has the walls repainted and even buy curtains for the windows. Everything that gets broken inside her classroom, she uses her own money to have them fixed. I did asked my aunt why she's the one buying all the stuffs and maintaining her classroom. She told me if not her then who will? If she will keep waiting for the school itself for how long she doesn't know until supplies arrive her students will suffer cause she won't be able to teach them properly so she has to provide those stuffs herself for the student's benefit. As what I can see in her, she's not complaining at all. I guess thats the real beauty of teaching. Always wanting to share knowledge no matter what situation she may be. Ciao!

I think teachers should have to buy things to a certain extent.If the teacher wants to do a special project with the children, then they should have to spend their own money. But simple things like notebooks, pencils, sharpeners, crayons, etc. should be paid for by the school. You can't tell me that the school isn't setting aside so much for these supplies out of the school taxes that are charged. So there are instances that require the teacher to buy supplies, and there are instances when the school should provide them.

Teachers like everyone else are caught up the budget crunches. I think its ridiculous that the school system doesn't provide basic staples anymore. I understand if a teacher wants to do special projects that require additional resources and I've gotten all those wonderful teacher wish lists that include copy paper (since they are not provided any, toilet paper for their classrooms, and all sorts of givens that were once commonplace. This year, my son who is a sophomore in high school is in an honors science class where there are not enough seating. There are about 5 students in any given period who sit on the floor for now. I'm calling the district office as soon as they open today, to complain. It's ridiculous that they keep cutting the school budgets yet there are not enough supplies, books and now even desks.

No, I do not feel that teachers should have to buy supplies from their own money. Our school systems should be focusing more on providing teaching materials and less on paying big salaries to their administrators and sports coaches. Many schools spend ridiculous amounts on sports and ignore academics.

I think the school should purchase the supplies. Years ago they started the FL lottery and said proceeds would be going to the schools. What happened? They still don't have enough to pay the teachers their worth, have cut budgets to schools. I don't get it. If the proceeds from lottery goes to education then someone needs to do an audit.

Let me clear this out first, I am a public school teacher and the status of a public school teacher is different from a teacher in private school. We have our supplies for the start of the school year and these are as follows: a box of chalk, 5 or more manila papers, an eraser, a broom, a gallon of floor wax, class record and other school forms. If we are going to think about it clearly these are supplies for the entire school year (10 months) and a box of chalk is not enough to last until the end of the school term. Also, with an entire book to cover, having 5 pieces manila paper is not enough. In addition, a gallon on floor wax and a broom will never be enough to maintain the cleanliness of the room for the whole year. So, how do we solve these problems? We have to buy supplies out of our own pocket and yes, it is really SAD because we only earn too little because of those authorized deductions like tax and GSIS/SSS. In addition to very little paycheck,we earn it only monthly so those teachers that have a family and children who are studying will settle for loans which gives them additional burden because of the interest. When we try to tell these things to our superior, they will always say you have your allowances but those allowances are not enough to cover our expenses. Is it fair for us to buy our supplies? I think not but it is most unfair to let students cover for our supplies right?

Well, they get paid so little as it is. But to buy the supplies themselves shows that they care about the kids that come into their classrooms. I don't feel that they should have to buy the supplies. Maybe a fundraiser would work in getting supplies that is needed. They have some great fundraisers out there that might be of help.

i don't think so... it is so unfair as teachers don't earn that much as well with their paychecks... if they need some supplies to teach the students in the classroom, then the school had to buy it for them... they receive money from the school fees anyway... so they should be the one buying supplies for the teachers... take care and have a nice day...

I don't think so. As far as I know, teachers have their own allowances from their respective schools which they can use to buy supplies and certain materials needed for their class. My father is a public school teacher and he has his own allowance. Well, though sometimes he spends his own money to buy materials, he is just doing it to be more innovative in his class activities.

When I was younger my school couldn't provide some supplies that we need for our class or whatever subject we were learning in class. So my teacher would go out and buy the product for us students to use in class. I thought it was so nice for her to do that because the school just would fork over the money. I really think the school should have sorted out some kind of budget plan for these kinds of things.

Uh no. That's just wrong, lol. If a teacher wants to do something special for the class then sure. But using their own money for supplies is crazy. I don't know if any of the teachers in my town would be up for that every day, lol. I've had teachers use their money for well planned experiments and stuff and that made sense because they wanted to use their money for proper tools.

I believe the school should provide the necessary supplies that teachers need when they teach. When I worked as a teacher in my previous job, everything was provided. But of course, I still bought some supplies of my own, especially those I prefer using. But I still believe there should be budget for these things.

The problem in this situation is something that I've been saying for a long time; we as a country are spending too much time and money on stupid things instead of investing in our children's education. Who needs a cowgirl museum or at least one that received over a million dollars in government funds? I mean really, I'd rather see the kids have the materials needed to learn math, science and all subjects than to have them go see a cowgirl museum. Teachers should not have to be paying for basic school supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, tablets, notebooks, art supplies, etc... Our school tax dollars should be going to pay for those things. Having teachers pay for basic supplies like books would be like asking a doctor to pay for the medicine a patient is prescribed. There are many teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty and they are commendable. Also, parents of students need to get more involved with what's going on in the school district and start attending meetings to air their grievances and help find solutions to the problems that our schools face. These are just my thoughts on the subject.

I think the schools should be paying for those supplies just as long as these supplies are really for educational purposes. I think teachers should be paid more than what they're currently getting. And letting them use their own money for teaching our kids is just plain wrong.

No, they shouldn't; but they do. My daughter teaches in a Christian school and we give her a gift card to an education store so she has more resources for her classroom. It would be good of more non-profit organizations would do the same for public school teachers. Maybe they could hold bake sales to provide gift certificates to teachers in their area. We all need to support our teachers. They are grossly underpaid for the level of education and training required for them to teach.

I think if the supplies are really needed then the school should pay for them but then I also think the schools need to use the money more for supplies and less for decorations. If it's a special project that the teacher wants to do and the school won't pay for it then I think the teacher should pay for it or do a different project. [b]**AT PEACE WITHIN** ~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~ [/b]

I've heard about these things. I know that they try and save money but it seems that they are saving in the wrong direction - they should be cutting the fat from the TOP not the bottom - get rid of some of those administrators!

Absolutely not!! All supplies needed for the schoolwork should be supplied by the school. Teachers don't make enough as it is, then to take more money from them? That's just not right. I remember when my kids were in school and they would come home with this long list of school supplies that we had to buy them. It was crazy. My thought at the time was,why do we pay school taxes if we have to buy all the supplies,plus we had to pay for them to play sports and pay for their uniform and the sports pictures. I thought,what is the school doing with all the tax money they get?Then I found out when the were still in grade school that the teachers were also having to supply things for the kids. I knew the teachers didn't make much money,so I'm quessing where is this money going? My best quess is to the superintendent and the principle and also the vice principle. Am I right?

It wasn't always this way. Teachers used to have lots of supplies available to them, and budgets to add to what they wanted. At least that's the way it was when I was a kid. But when I was a kid, elementary schools only had to have one principal, one secretary, one janitor - even for the biggest schools. When I was in high school, we had one principal, one vice principle, two secretaries, two janitors - for a school that held 2500 kids. (My graduating class had over 900.) We didn't have to pay for a security guard/police officer to patrol the halls. We didn't have to have metal detectors. The school board was unpaid. There were only a handful of people in the administrative offices. (And yet all records were done manually.) Back then, parents were involved in the schools. My mother volunteered as a "bus mother" to help monitor our bus ride. She volunteered as a "room mother". Room mothers often did the job of what classroom aides did back then - as volunteers. The world has changed. Teachers now have unions that make sure they can keep their jobs, even when they're not doing a good job. Bad teachers can hold their jobs forever. There are way too many administrators. We have to have a half dozen vice principals in each school and paid security. And lotteries, that were supposedly intended to fund education, dump their proceeds (what's left aftere THEIR administrative costs) into a state's general fund...so that funding has to be budgeted and voted on like before there were lotteries. What should we change? Let parents choose what school their children attend. Hold teachers accountable. Have special schools for trouble makers. Get rid of some of the people at the top who make so much money. Use lottery money for education - which is how voters voted. Then...make sure that our children/grandchildren are getting the education they need and deserve. Make sure there are supplies for them, that they get recess and phys ed and music and art lessons. Teach them to love learning and they will pass the required tests each year.

i've been seeing this since i was little and i always thought it was unfair, especially for the teachers that i had. the ones who got there extra early and stayed really late if a kid needed help without getting paid for that. i mean, teachers dont get paid a lot to begin with and then they still have to buy supplies that the school should be supplying out of their own pockets? now thats messed up. a good amount of teachers are still out there that work hard for the kids, and i know that some of them dont mind having to spend out of their own pocket for the kids but that just shows how little we invest in education. we dont even have materials. i think that there might be some things that we could cut back on as a country, what those things are, i dont know, but there has to be something to put at least the necessary tools in the hands of kids.