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Teachers get the bill for school resources

School teachers are spending hundreds of dollars of their own money on essential teaching supplies needed for their classrooms.

An education advocacy group, Save Our Schools, released results from a recent survey which asked teachers how much of their salaries they spend on classroom materials.

Less than half-way through the school year 65 percent of respondents said they had already spent between $100 and $500 on classroom supplies.

Items teachers have paid for out of their own pockets include pencils, whiteboard markers, storage tubs, supplies to teach mathematics. Some teachers are even supplying their own furniture such as bookshelves or filing cabinets for their classrooms.

SOS spokesperson Dianne Khan said the survey was a response to anecdotes she was hearing from teachers.

“Talking to other teachers who have been in schools for a long time, they say it’s just expected they will plug the gaps.”

Out of 100 survey responses currently collated 32 teachers say that have spent over $5000 on supplies during their career.

“In a lot of schools, it’s the essentials. You’re not going to see a kid go without a book or a pencil. You’re just not.”

“Pretty much everything in my classroom, bar the table and chairs, belonged to me.”

Khan said in her first year teaching in New Zealand she spent $1200 of her own money on resources.

Her concern is the costs for new teachers gathering classroom resources come at a point in their careers when they can least afford it. The starting salary for a teacher can be $36,692, depending on qualifications.

“We’re losing teachers hand over fist and it’s probably only a small component of that, but it’s a component that is solvable,” said Khan.

One teacher, who did not want to be identified, told Newsroom in her first two years teaching at a mid-decile school she spent over $10,000 buying resources for her students.

Her school gave each teacher $25 per term for classroom supplies.

“I could buy a pack of stickers, and that was about it.

“As a first-year teacher going into a classroom I had no maths equipment. I had to go and buy everything. All of that came out of my own pocket.”

She said there was an enormous difference between high-decile and mid-decile schools she had taught in. In a high-decile school, she shared a budget of $7000 with two other teachers.

“Mid-decile schools are in a really awkward position. They are not getting a lot of community and family support and they’re not getting a lot of government support either.”

“Pretty much everything in my classroom, bar the table and chairs, belonged to me.”

A teacher of 20 years, Suzanne Stowers, now teaches reading recovery at Te Kohanga School, which is better resourced than some schools where she has worked. At an earlier school she struggled to get the school to purchase a chair for her to use in class.

“I just kept getting fobbed off and it became a joke. ‘Where is Suzanne’s chair?’ I was directly saying to the principal ‘Could I have a chair please.’

“I’ve had to buy book shelves, baskets, containers, maths equipment, alphabet cards. Literacy and maths materials that should be in the classrooms. Sometimes they're just not.”

New Zealand Principals' Federation president Whetu Cormick said teachers should not be paying for materials out of their own pocket and was very surprised to hear budgets could be as low as $20 per term.

In schools where he has taught he gives teachers an annual budget of $450 a year.

“We’re supposed to be proving a state-funded education and teachers shouldn’t have to be spending their own money on buying stickers.”

He said his advice to teachers is if they are having to buy resources to do their job, they should have a discussion with their principal.

Money for classroom resources mainly comes from operational funding. For consumable, non-curriculum items, such as pencils and glue sticks, donations made by parents can be used.

Last week’s Budget included a 1.6 percent rise in operational funding for schools, an amount the New Zealand Education Institute president Lynda Stuart described as “measly”, saying it should be increased by four percent.

The union believes 2018 funding for primary school running costs has decreased in real terms and it is unclear whether a teacher pay rise will occur.

“The extra $370 million for new teacher training places is putting the cart before the horse when enrolments for initial teacher training have fallen off the cliff in recent years. There is nothing in this Budget that will make teaching a more appealing career choice and turn the growing teacher shortage around,” said Stuart.