According to CNN, school teachers on average spend more than $450 per year out of their own pocket buying supplies for their classroom.
Teachers around the country often reach into their own pockets to buy school supplies for themselves or their students, either because the school system does not provide the money, or because they feel sorry for youngsters from poor homes who come to school without the things they need.
Karl Kaku, an English teacher at Fresno High School for 10 years, said he spent $200 on supplies before this year's classes had even started."Stuff to write with, stuff to write on, pens, paper, overhead transparencies, overhead markers, ink cartridges," said Kaku, who makes $56,000 a year. "Some years, there's some money. Others, there's nothing. This year there's nothing."
The NEA and other groups are trying to reinstate the tax provisions.
Politicians of both parties love to talk of the inportance of education. Making sure that each child has an adequate supply of essential educational supplies seems pretty basic.
Forget about using the tax code to indirectly reimburse teachers for buying school supplies. Instead, let's directly fund the purchase of adequate supplies for each classroom. Every school child, regardless of socio-economic background, should have pencil and paper available to them in the classroom.
I realize that that is a radical notion, but its time has come.