AFT Survey Shows Teachers Are Spending Hundreds Out of Pocket on Food for Kids, Classroom Supplies

WASHINGTON—The AFT today released a new national survey that shows a substantial number of educators anticipate needing to buy food for hungry students this year, as most continue to spend more than $300 out of their own pockets on classroom supplies.

The survey of more than 700 AFT K-12 members found that half (49.5 percent) say they anticipate needing to purchase food for their students this year as COVID-era federal nutrition funding runs dry—and even before the cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in President Donald Trump’s big, ugly bill take effect in 2028. Another 16 percent said they are unsure, while only about a third said “no” they don’t expect to make such purchases.

“Students need food due to [a] lack of it at home,” responded one Florida educator, whose purchases will also include tissues, hand sanitizer and writing utensils because “students are not able to purchase their own.”

An educator from Kentucky said, “A lot of my students are starving because of lack of food availability.”

Most members surveyed spend more than $300 of their own money on classroom supplies, and their spending is often on basic needs—pencils, paper and notebooks—but they also buy books, decorations and organizational items, snacks, rewards and even cleaning products. One California teacher purchased a $650 air conditioner “because it gets so hot that the kids just shut down and the district won’t provide it.”

Members cited insufficient support and supplies from their school districts, rising costs and students’ needs among reasons for their personal classroom spending.

“Every year, public school educators dig into their own pockets to help their students get the education they deserve,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said. “They pay for books, decorations, paper, pencils and, yes, even food, because they care deeply about their students and giving them a shot at success. But as public schools get defunded and basic necessities in this country become unaffordable for working people, teachers and parents are feeling squeezed. Our member survey shows public school educators need more resources to help make their classrooms the safe and welcoming places that students need to learn. What other professionals are asked to fund their work like teachers?”

The survey, conducted by Grow Progress, was completed by 705 AFT members between Aug. 29 and Sept. 2 in conjunction with the beginning of the school year. The respondents were mostly (61 percent) between the ages of 35 and 54, 76 percent were women, and 75 percent had an advanced degree. One-third reported that they were parents or guardians of children under the age of 18.

Similar to last year’s spending pattern, more than half of those surveyed anticipate spending more than $300 on their classrooms this year and about a quarter anticipate spending more than $600.

One-quarter of respondents blamed their classroom-supply spending on insufficient funding and supplies from their districts. Meanwhile, spending is going up because costs are rising, according to 16 percent of respondents.

“Everything costs more!” one member from Georgia wrote. “Also the Dollar Tree—a teacher’s go-to store—is no longer ‘everything a dollar. …’ This is disastrous for a teacher’s budget.”

Ten percent of the members surveyed said more of their students are in need and not arriving with their own supplies. “The children at my school don’t have the funds to buy school supplies or snacks,” one member from Florida wrote. “So I am constantly buying supplies for them throughout the year.”

None of this will be improved by Trump’s tax law. The law redirects funds from public to private schools, fails to increase the educator expense deduction for the vast majority of teachers, and makes the deepest cuts in history to food assistance, which will mean millions of students will go to class hungry.

Members who responded to the survey hail from states across the country, with the largest percentages from New York (22 percent), Florida (15 percent), Minnesota (11 percent), Illinois (8 percent) and California (8 percent).

The survey revealed a strong negative perception of the Trump administration’s policies, with 55 percent reporting a “very negative” impact in their schools and communities. Sixteen percent reported a “somewhat negative” impact. The primary concerns among those who reported negative impacts were fear and anxiety related to immigration policies and inadequate funding and resources. Only a small minority reported a positive impact, with 6 percent saying “very positive” and 2 percent saying “somewhat positive.”

“I teach in Downtown Los Angeles, and my school site is at the center of the ICE raids,” one teacher wrote. “Many of my students are recent immigrants, and a great deal of them are scared to come to school.”

One Florida member cited a “lack of support materials for ESOL [English as a second language] students, lack of understanding that all students do not learn the same, lack of empathy towards students who may need food assistance, and creating an overall disrespect towards educators and our expertise.”

The survey was sent to an unweighted sample of 100,000 K-12 AFT educators. The margin of error was 3.69 percent at a 95 percent confidence level and 3.10 percent at a 90 percent confidence level.