The statistics are startling. On average, teachers who were surveyed said they spent $268 on school supplies in the 2012–2013 school year, $491 on instructional materials and an additional $186 on other classroom supplies for an average total of $945 on teacher supplies.1 Teachers can deduct $250 from their federal taxes, but the rest comes straight out of their pockets. Ouch!
As a result, many teachers have become good at sniffing out deals and finding cheap school supplies. Even so, they still end up spending quite a bit of their own cash during the school year. To help lessen the impact, we’ve collected a number of ways to get classroom supplies at no cost. Free stuff is uniquely available to educators because of the nature of their work: educating children.
- Reuse teacher supplies from the last year
The end of the school year gets a little crazy. People know the summer break is just around the corner and start pitching everything they’ve used for the last nine months. Hold on! Lots of markers, calculators, rolls of tape and other classroom supplies can be reused. Sort what’s good from what’s obviously worn out and box it up for next year. You can get students in the act too. Put boxes in the hallway when they clean out their lockers, and collect their gently used rulers, spiral binders, pens and other supplies. - Spread the word, donations are accepted
Simply letting people know you’re looking for teacher supplies is a great way to locate items. Make a list, be specific and share how you’ve put items to use to reinforce the goodwill. Even if your friends and family don’t have access to cheap school supplies themselves, they may know someone who does or have a friend of a friend who can help. Remember, it truly is for the children. So don’t be afraid to ask. You might even approach local retailers and ask if they have leftover supplies you can have in exchange for a public thank you. - Reach out to online school charities
Several online school charities are available to help match educator requests with potential donors. For instance, DonorsChoose.org serves K-12 schools in all 50 states. Teachers post the specific supplies they need — pens, paper and art materials; violins for a recital; microscopes for a biology class — and then donors can pick the request they’d like to assist. Seventy percent of the requests on DonorsChoose.org are successfully funded.
AdoptAClassroom.org has a similar mission with a slightly different twist. It connects donors to specific classrooms, teachers or schools. Currently, over 200,000 teachers are registered. - Check with your PTA
If you have a special request or a project that requires unique classroom supplies, it’s always worth reaching out to your school’s PTA. There’s a chance they might fund all or at least part of your project needs. You should also check with your school’s principal or, in high school, the department chair. They may have bought items in bulk that you can use, or they may know if other school staff has leftover teacher supplies that suit your needs. - Ask retiring teachers
Speaking of leftovers, another especially good resource for cheap school supplies is retiring teachers. Typically, educators who retire want to get rid of the stuff they’ve accumulated and would love to find a good home for it. As an added bonus, they can offer tips or insights for incorporating the materials into your class lessons. - Browse NEA’s "10 Free Things" page
The National Education Association provides a Web page that links to free teaching resources from many organizations including National Geographic, TeachEngineering, the Texas Tech Vietnam Center and Archive and many more. You’ll find lesson plans, videos, activities, educational games and more. They post new links frequently so check back often. - Free tech tools
If you’re not using the free online apps and Web sites for teachers you’re missing out. For instance, the free Google Apps Education Edition provides an online calendar to help you organize schedules and test dates. You can even use it to create a class Web site. Don’t worry. You don’t need to know HTML or computer programming. It’s intuitive and designed for non-techie people. You can also use Google Apps to create documents and presentations and then share them with your students in real time.
Another great online resource for teachers is School Tube. It’s the nation’s largest K-12 moderated video sharing platform. You can search for content by channel (just like YouTube), school or subject. You can even turn it into a classroom project and upload your own videos.
Eventually, you’ll probably need to dip into your own pocket to get some things for class. And when you do, Quill has everything you need. But hopefully, with the resources covered above, you can get most everything without ever spending a penny. Good luck!