Rising Cost of School Supplies Increases Burden on Teachers

For educators across the nation, spending their own money on school supplies is as integral a back-to-school ritual as arranging classroom seating, reviewing new lesson plans, and meeting parents. How much do they spend? Recent surveys indicate that teachers on average are forking out anywhere from $500 to as much as $900. Whether they fall on the lower or higher end, teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses have always been too high.  

Demetria Richardson, a teacher in Richmond, Va., expects her bill to climb north of $1,000 before the end of September. 

“It’s gotten a lot more expensive since COVID,” says Richardson, who has taught second grade for more than 20 years. “I have a credit card that I use only for classroom expenses, on which I have a $2500 limit. But you have to be careful because with rising prices on pretty much everything, sometimes I may have to ease off certain expenses because I've spent a little bit too much in my classroom.”   

Shana Danielson, a music teacher in Gettysburg, Pa., spends roughly $400 to $600 each year on students.

“It’s very frustrating. I don’t feel like money should ever keep somebody from loving or learning music,” Danielson told USA Today. 

Every school year, Danielson, Richardson, and other educators—earning salaries that haven’t kept up with inflation—are finding themselves in a position they should not be forced into, says NEA President Becky Pringle. Other school staff reach into their own pockets as well. According to a 2022 NEA membership survey, more than 3 in 5 education support professionals spend an average of $282 a year on classroom materials, field trips, and projects.

“Educators have always put their own money into their classrooms, and take it our of their own family budget. That’s not ok,” Pringle said.

The roughly 90 percent of teachers who use their own money to cover classroom expenses have struggled with a 20 percent increase in prices since 2020. But the 2025-26 school year could be their most expensive yet. 

Back-to-School Sticker Shock

As the 2025-26 school year began, typical school supplies cost an average of 7.3 percent more than the previous year—nearly triple the overall inflation rate. That's according to a new report from the Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation, which also broke down the increased costs for some popular classroom items that families and educators will grapple with during the new school year.

Index cards are up more than 42 percent, notebooks are up 17 percent, binders and folders are up around 12 percent. 

And according to a recent teacher survey by Adopt a Classroom, one of the online resources many educators use to ask for donations, teacher out-of-pocket spending has increased 49 percent since 2015. The survey also found that 97 percent of teachers said the budget provided by their school was not enough to cover their needs. 

The top reason teachers give for purchasing supplies (81 percent) is because they “want every student to have the same opportunities in the classroom.” As one teacher in Santa Fe who participated in the survey explained,“Funding is already hard to come by. Between education funding cuts and inflation, I worry about my students being able to access materials that are necessary for their education.”

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The Impact of Tariffs

In its analysis of back-to-school expenses, the Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation report that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are driving price increases. The latest round—tariffs of 10 percent or more on nearly all countries — went into effect on August 1,  raising the cost of everyday goods. According to the Yale University Budget Lab, the average U.S. tariff rate is now at its highest in more than 90 years.

Their full impact has yet to be felt, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that prices for educational books and materials for schools, colleges and universities were 9.4 percent higher in May as compared to last year. Soon, explained one expert, the effect of tariffs will be more widely dispersed.

“Products like a backpack, a binder, an index card, pencils, pens....Tariffs impact all these. It trickles down,”  explained Rashid Al-Hmoud, chair of the Department of Economics at Texas Tech University.

Some industry estimates say that, as the effect of tariffs kick in, the price of school supplies will increase by as much as 15 percent.

Making the Teacher Shortage Worse

The rising cost of school supplies will, as always, disproportionately affect educators who work in high-poverty schools, where 75 percent or more students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Teachers who work in these schools are more likely to spend higher amounts on supplies—an average of $761 in 2023—and more likely to use crowdfunding platforms.

Richardson works in a Title I school and posts projects on DonorsChoose. “It definitely helps, but projects don't necessarily get funded quickly and you may need materials right away. So I'll just go out buy what I need.” Richardson said local school supply drives and other community events can offer much-needed help as well. 

Krista Kaminski, a Title I behavioral interventionist teacher in La Crosse, Wisc., says educators across the state rely on online wish-lists, but community support in the form of school supply drives appears to be dipping as families struggle with higher prices.

The bottom line is that schools need more funding, Kaminski told the Wisconsin Independent. “I just think prioritizing the public education system in our state budget would be beneficial because then we could afford those supplies, and our students would have the things they need without us having to either pay out of our pocket or reach out to others to support us."

Lawmakers know what they have to do to close the gaps, Pringle said, but have allowed another school year to start without providing schools and educators with the resources they need to help students succeed. ”And that is making the educator shortage worse, not better.”

Richardson agrees. “I worry about newer teachers coming into our school and assuming that most if not all the resources they will need will be provided. And then they find out how much they have to take out of their salary to buy these supplies. Teaching is already a challenging job. Too many leave after 3 to 5 years because they don't expect some of these challenges that come with the job.”