NH Teachers Open Wallets for Classrooms

N.H. Rep. Rosemarie Rung’s family room was overflowing with notebooks, tissue boxes, batteries, scissors, crayons and other back-to-school items on Tuesday as she, along with a student volunteer and another lawmaker, sorted through the donated material.

This is the fourth year she has presided over a back-to-school drive to help not only parents and students, but teachers who often have to open their own wallets to keep their classrooms stocked.

“We collected a ton of stuff and we’re sorting them by school, and then we’re going to be delivering them later this week,” said Rung, D-Merrimack. “I think that with cuts to school district budgets, discretionary spending on things like school supplies is one of the first things that gets cut.

“Two things have happened. One, teachers are spending more and more out of their pocket to supply their classrooms. And parents are sent these huge lists of school supplies to have their children bring in. It’s really daunting.”

Rung was joined in her sorting duties Tuesday by Rep. Nancy Murphy, D-Merrimack, and Hailey Hunt, a high school student volunteer. The trio popped up a tent labeled “Community for Classrooms” along a busy road and collected the supplies from donors earlier this month.

A survey by the National Center for Education Statistics said the average public school teacher spent $445 of their own money on school classroom supplies in 2020 without reimbursement.  

One thing to consider, Rung said, is that many teachers also frequently buy  snacks and water for their classrooms.

Megan Tuttle, president of the National Education Association-New Hampshire; Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, and MacKenzie Nicholson, senior director for MomsRising in New Hampshire, held an online video session Tuesday to discuss back-to-school costs.

Tuttle said there’s a kind of double-whammy going on, because back-to-school supplies have become more expensive in recent years at the same time as public education is facing funding challenges.

“Educators and families alike are experiencing the financial burden of increased school supply costs,” she said. “We’re all taxpayers wondering, ‘Why isn’t there enough to cover the basic tools necessary for our kids' education?' " 

Nicholson said that while inflation has increased the costs of some basic supplies, national budget legislation has weakened the public safety net in areas such as health care and food assistance on which many families depend.

Fenton has three young children, two sons and a daughter.

“I won’t say that I’ve been counting down the days to get my kids back to school, but I am happy to see them going back to school, and like many parents and caregivers across the state, my wife and I are making the rounds at Walmart, Target, Staples, grocery stores and local retailers to really get ready for this school year.

“My kids are heading back to the same schools I attended and just like every other family, we’re feeling the squeeze as costs keep going up.”