Dive Brief:
- Nevada lawmakers are pushing a new bill that would reimburse teachers who shell out cash to buy school supplies for their classrooms.
- The bill, which echoes a failed 2013 proposal, would set aside $2.5 million for teacher reimbursements in the 2015-16 school year, followed by another $2.5 million for the next school year.
- Each teacher would only be eligible for up to $100.
Dive Insight:
While $100 is definitely better than nothing, the sum sounds paltry when placed in context with the reality that educators often spend double or even quadruple that over the course of a school year. According to data from a 2012-13 study by the National School Supply and Equipment Association, educators spent a total of $1.6 billion of their own money on school supplies and materials that school year.
Ideally, the real shift that needs to happen is within school budgets and overall funding to schools. Districts should not be relying on teachers to purchase supplies, but rather have budgets to take care of it all. In some scenarios, pricey consultants or more superfluous items are being budgeted with the knowledge that teachers will front the bill if their classroom doesn’t have the necessary supplies. That has to change.