'No pencils, no lunch': why teachers dip into their own pockets

Authored by smh.com.au and submitted by ManiaforBeatles

Mandy Wells teaches refugee children whose parents can't afford to buy pencils, stationery or school bags. They certainly don't have felt pens, pencil sharpeners or erasers. So, to ensure they don't miss out, she dips into her own pocket.

"Every term I will stock up on the things that their parents can't buy for them," she says. "I can spend anywhere from $900 to $1800, $2000 a year – depending on the needs of the class. I work with colleagues who spend more.

"We have to get them to engage in learning, yet they can't read write or speak English, they don't eat breakfast, they don't eat lunch, they don't have a school bag or stationery and they certainly don't have any books at home."

Teacher Mandy Wells uses her own money to buy supplies for her pupils. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Ms Wells is far from alone. A national survey has found that 93 per cent of teachers use their own money to purchase supplies for their school or students and 25 per cent of those – mostly primary teachers – spend more than $1000 a year.

Some 78 per cent buy stationery, 76 per cent buy classroom equipment and 44 per cent buy library resources and textbooks, according to the Australian Education Union's State of Our Schools research report.

_LikeLionsDo_ on October 27th, 2018 at 16:49 UTC »

This year when the Washington State teachers went on strike, there was a lot of drama with the school board. At one particular meeting in my district, teachers were essentially scolded for being selfish and thinking about their paychecks instead of the children.

It’s not a fucking charity, this is their place of employment. While the children matter IMMENSELY, I can’t imagine another career scolding an employee for needing money for their job. Imagine scolding an accountant who asks for a raise because “you’re not thinking about the capital account entries” or scolding a FedEx employee because “you’re not thinking about the packages!”

elizakittykitty on October 27th, 2018 at 15:20 UTC »

The mentality that teachers should do this or should “give selflessly” to their students is so wrong. It is a job. The fact that they’re expected to donate money and unpaid time (beyond the normal lesson planning, etc.) out of passion is insane; they are regular people with their own lives. We’ve created this bizarre rhetoric where we praise teachers for this behavior, when in any other profession, spending a grand on your job—the place that’s supposed to pay YOU—would be insane.

Both my parents are teachers and they love the job and they love their students, and they’ve spent tons of their own money and time to make their kids’ lives better. But they shouldn’t have to. They are not nuns; this is a job like any other and no amount of personal sacrifice should be required. Praise teachers for doing a good job, but don’t idolize this behavior; recognize it as a sad state of our educational system. I say this because when people idolize this and see it as “heroic,” it takes away from the larger conversation that needs to be had about what unreasonable expectations are put on our hardworking teachers.

neomech on October 27th, 2018 at 14:27 UTC »

Same as in the US. And, if I'm not mistaken, the cost of supplies is no longer tax-deductible for teachers as of this year.