The Hidden Costs of Teaching

Mary Bennett’s job lends new meaning to the term giving at the office.

Bennett regularly dips into her wallet, spending upward of $1,000 a year to stock her Los Angeles classroom with novels, phonics workbooks and other extras that her school can’t afford.

Bennett’s spending habits are hardly unique. To fill gaps in their meager book collections, teachers everywhere are known to scrounge for precious reading material at garage sales, swap meets, thrift stores--anywhere they can find a bargain.

“I can’t get out of a teachers supply store for under $100,” said Bennett, who figures she has spent $21,000 during 21 years on the job.

Now California is set to help out.

The state is spending $25 million this year to beef up classroom libraries in kindergarten through fourth grade--the first infusion of its kind aimed at increasing the number of books available to students for leisure reading.

The money is scheduled to start flowing in March. Another $25 million has been proposed for the same purpose next year. The extra money comes from the state’s budget surplus, which Gov. Gray Davis has tapped to pay for his overall education and reading initiatives, intended to bolster student performance.

The funds translate into an average of 13 hardback books or 22 paperbacks--or some combination--for every eligible classroom in the state’s 5,247 elementary schools.

“I’m amazed the money exists,” said Bennett, who has lined her classroom bookshelves with about 300 mostly worn children’s books, and stuffed two file cabinets with workbooks on spelling, vocabulary and creative writing.

California’s educational leaders have recommended that every elementary school classroom have at least 1,500 books for recreational reading--a lofty, and largely unattainable, goal prompted by research that shows the substantial benefits of independent reading.

Even Basics Are in Short Supply

Officials don’t keep track of how many books, recreational or otherwise, are in California classrooms, but they say the new money is a step in the right direction.

The state spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to supply schools with textbooks, teachers’ manuals and other staples. But even those basics are in short supply, forcing teachers to make do with hand-me-downs and photocopies.

Thus, many teachers use their paychecks to supplement their supplies. They converge on discount outlets or school supply stores. snapping up alphabet flashcards and felt word walls. They swarm the booths of publishers at teacher conferences, seeking cheap materials. They scour bookstores and catalogs for sales. And they join clubs that reward their purchases with free books.

“It just sort of goes with the job; it’s not even a question,” said Christina Andreas, who teaches third grade at Walnut Elementary School in Chino. Andreas estimated she spends $700 to $1,000 a year on books and other supplies.

“To do an adequate job, you have to spend your own money,” she said. “A library for pleasure reading, that’s something you need to develop on your own.”

A survey conducted by the Los Angeles teachers union found that teachers shell out $500 a year, on average, for their classrooms. Those interviewed for the survey said they willingly spend their money, but they also griped about not being recognized for their efforts.

“I’ve heard of teachers spending $1,000, $2,000,” said Steve Blazak, a union spokesman. “It’s been going on for quite some time.”

Blazak said many teachers dug deep to buy new English materials in the aftermath of Proposition 227, the 1998 voter initiative that effectively ended bilingual education in California.

He said some states provide grants for classroom supplies, or reimburse teachers when they pony up their own money. “In Florida, it’s $250 a year--which is really low,” he said.

Teachers in Los Angeles, meanwhile, regularly place notices in the school district newsletter, offering to swap textbooks, reams of paper, envelopes, calendars and other essentials.

The lack of supplies in Los Angeles Unified and elsewhere weighs heaviest on rookie teachers and those who switch grades. Both have to build their classroom libraries from scratch.

Patricia McCollough is learning that lesson the expensive way.

The first-year teacher at Westmont Elementary School in Anaheim received $200 in start-up money for items required for her first- and second-graders, materials such as a flashcard chart with letters, plastic shapes and a bag of 500 coins to teach about money. The PTA kicked in an extra $20.

But those funds were only a drop in the bucket for McCollough, who has spent another $500 of her own since the beginning of the school year.

McCollough ticks off the expenses like a grocery list: $30 worth of flashcards; $40 on puzzles; $300 on books, including two copies each of “Green Eggs and Ham” and the “Foot Book.”

The list, of course, may be outdated by the time she returns to work next fall. McCollough is at the bottom of the seniority ladder and could be transferred to another grade level--and thus have to begin buying all over again.

But the specter of shifting grades hasn’t stopped McCollough from taking care of business this year.

“I’m just starting,” she said. “I’ve got a library now for my kids and games for them to play. I’ve bought good quality things that last.”

Now the state is starting to kick in. In all, nearly 90% of the state’s school districts are eligible for the new classroom money; some districts serve only the upper grades and thus will not get funds.

The school systems that qualify will get $10.48 for every student in kindergarten through grade four. The money must be used to buy literature, whether fiction or nonfiction; it cannot be applied to textbooks, teaching journals or other supplies.

The classroom library money is on top of $158 million in separate state funding to restock school libraries.

In Los Angeles Unified, the classroom windfall amounts to $3 million; the district also is spending $2.5 million more on its own to bolster recreational reading materials in kindergarten through grade two.

To qualify for the state’s new classroom funds, school districts need only adopt a plan for using the money and file a one-page application.

A Nudge to Get Money

Despite the seemingly simple requirements, 106 school districts missed the Jan. 14 deadline to submit the required paperwork, or it was lost in the mail, said Barbara Jeffus, school library consultant for the state Department of Education.

Among those initially not claiming their money were Los Nietos School District in Whittier, the San Marino Unified School District, and Rowland Unified in the San Gabriel Valley.

Jeffus called those districts to nudge them.

“I said, ‘I assume you want this money,’ ” she recalled.

All districts in the region have since submitted their paperwork, Jeffus said.

Rowland Unified isn’t waiting for the money to arrive. Teachers there already have begun ordering books; “Curious George,” “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Wing Ding Dilly” are among the favorites.

The district is paying the nearly $63,000 bill up front and will be reimbursed by the state, officials said.

“We are trying to get books in the hands of the children as soon as possible,” said Assistant Supt. Sue Brewer. “It’s an excellent use of money.”