Teachers play an extraordinary role in the lives of children. They spend countless hours molding students into responsible citizens by instilling the necessary skills, principals, and shared wisdom. Passionate, motivating, effective teachers are the foundation of quality education; and quality education opens the doors to a lifetime of opportunity.
Unfortunately, nearly all public school teachers dig into their own pockets to pay for school supplies. It's estimated that teachers spend on average $480 a year on notebooks, pens, and other essential supplies that their students need to receive a quality education. This estimate is far more than the federal $250 tax deduction available to teachers. The federal government has yet to revise or raise the deduction despite the growing need. Far too many teachers are not fairly compensated or given the proper benefits to help create more compelling environments for students to excel.
Teachers Share #OutOfMyPocket Examples:
The hundreds of books I buy so every student can always find something to read. #outofmypocket pic.twitter.com/5Nwx0eh9dR
— Abbi C (@planetabbi) November 11, 2017
#OutOfMyPocket glue, scissors, pens, pencils, tissues, markers, crayons, dry erase markers, note cards, stickers, rulers pic.twitter.com/8AXc7Cqhei
— Laura Shimenga (@LauraShimenga) November 10, 2017
How much I've spent so far to start off the year #RedforEd #OutOfMyPocket pic.twitter.com/K10QV4YfoG
— Jace Chang (@ChangYourWorld) August 29, 2018
We are honored to pay tribute and help teachers make more positive impacts in their classroom by working with Donorschoose.org. Founded in 2000 by former public school teacher Charles Best, DonorsChoose.org helps teachers share their classroom needs with a thriving online community eager to help. Since its founding, 3.5 million people and partners have given more than $800 million to projects, reaching 30 million students.
As teachers prepared for another school year, we helped match donations for teachers incorporating project-based learning in their classrooms. Project-based learning helps students acquire in-depth knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems with more dynamic classroom activities or lessons. We are proud to have donated nearly $140K, which supported 534 teachers to educate almost 53,000 students across 480 schools.
We encourage everyone to find more ways to support their local teachers. Benjamin Franklin said it best, "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." Teachers are the source of our knowledge, and they deserve exceptional support to help children prosper far into the future.
