Teachers regularly shell out their own money to outfit their classrooms, but now they are in danger of losing a federal perk that helps supplement their efforts.
Since 2002, teachers have been able to take a tax deduction of $250 for out-of-pocket classroom expenses. The provision, which has been extended a year or two at a time since it was first enacted, expired at the end of 2011. It was not addressed in the payroll tax holiday extension that recently passed, leaving educators to wonder if this, too, will go the way of recent education dollars.
While all classrooms are outfitted with the basics teachers need, some teachers at Burgess Elementary School estimate they spend $500 each year on supplies and other items. They say it’s hard to keep track of each expense, as the needs are constant and restocking their classrooms just becomes part of their family shopping trips.
“I could spend $50 just tonight,” said veteran teacher Pam Petty, a top-five finalist for last year’s Horry County Teacher of the Year award. “I save the receipts for the deduction, but it’s at least a few things every week. It’s imbedded in the grocery bill and other shopping, so it’s hard to separate, but it’s always several hundred [dollars] more.”
Teacher Amber Gordon estimated she spends $500, if not more, for the year, mainly on day-to-day items.
“Every year at tax time, my husband says, ‘Amber, I don’t even want to know the total,’” she said. [The $250], that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You don’t want your students to be without.”
While they each receive some up-front money for supplies, many teachers say that only covers the first round of what they purchase for their students. Amounts vary by school, based on each principal’s budget, and parents also contribute by donating items from class supply lists.
Burgess Principal Donna Hooks said her school also benefits from having a bond with its community.
The school has received supplies from a local church, as well as some funds from its strong parent-teacher organization, she said.
At the elementary and middle school levels, needed items include glue sticks, construction paper, pencils, child-sized scissors and notebooks, with tissues and antibacterial wash thrown in for good measure. For high schools, add in pens, computer software, graph paper, ink cartridges and three-ring binders.
“I know high school teachers really appreciate the $250 supply check,” said Velna Allen, Horry County Schools’ executive director of high schools. “While our school budgets buy supplies, it isn’t always enough to cover all the needs.”
Consumable items go fast, just like the money.
Students use the supplies to create their own work, which all correlates to the standards they are studying, and a lot of it goes on specified learning walls to give visual cues to what they are learning, which gives students ownership in the process.
Dottie Brown, HCS executive director of elementary schools, said that while adding homey extras is not necessary to having a great classroom, many teachers have had extensive training on classroom environment and understand how to create a warm and inviting atmosphere, which also is modeled for them by veteran teachers.
“We spend a lot of time training in the district, and teachers who have been with us 10 years or more did a lot of training on classroom environment,” Brown said. “There are expectations, and I think it’s inherently important to any good teacher.”
Hooks said brain-compatible research has shown that children respond positively to certain surroundings, such as those with calming, cooler colors and earth tones, low-level lighting, plants and certain types of music. Many teachers bring in extras for instance, lamps to create a cozier environment, and Hooks held in-house training on the subject last year for her newer teachers.
“You want your class to be a safe place for them,” said third-grade teacher Jennifer Wingerter. “You want it to feel like another home.”
For first-time teachers, achieving that effect can be a bit daunting as they invest in books for their class libraries and other items that, hopefully, they will be able to save and accumulate over the years. For them especially, the federal tax deduction is a great help.
“I appreciate having it very much,” said Anila Patel, who is in her second year of teaching at Burgess. “It was a shock that first year with all the things I needed to get.”
Patel said she buys items she never thought she’d need -- such as curtains for her windows to block direct sunlight from her room -- but said it is worth it because her students need a good environment in which to learn.
Hooks said teachers learn to be frugal and are creative with what they have, which can be seen in the educational artwork that lines the school’s halls, made from everything from paper plates to recycled bottle caps. And while a $250 deduction might not sound momentous, Hooks said it is a great help, and moves to drop it sends the wrong message.
“What it says is do our representatives and senators recognize and appreciate what our teachers take out of their own pockets because they love their students?” she said.
