National polls show that teachers spend more than $600 of their own money on classroom supplies each year. As a newer teacher, you might be feeling the pressure to dig into your wallet to make sure your students have the resources they need.
Fortunately, it is possible to finance classroom projects with grants, donations and other money-saving strategies. Here are some avenues to try the next time you’re tempted to pull out your own credit card.
Save your receipts. Teacher’s Choice reimburses New York City public school educators for the purchase of classroom and school supplies of their choice. You should have received your Teacher’s Choice allotment in your last November or first December paycheck. To use the funds, you must save your receipts for educational purchases you made or make between Aug. 1, 2023, and mid-January and submit them by Jan. 19.
Apply for a grant. Don’t be intimidated if you’ve never written a grant proposal before. Remember, the goal is to demonstrate how the funding you receive will help you solve a problem in your classroom or pursue an innovative project with your students.
Where can you find available grants?
On the union’s grants, awards and freebies page, you’ll find information about grant applications currently open for educators — anything from $125 for a classroom pet to $1,250 to fund student environmental research.
Seek donations. New York City public school teachers have successfully funded nearly 150,000 projects through DonorsChoose for anything from earbuds for online work to uniform shirts for the marching band. Regina Kucsma, who teaches at PS 8 on Staten Island, successfully used the money from a DonorsChoose grant to purchase flexible seating options for her 5th-grade class.
On DonorsChoose, you can request donations for materials or a class trip for your students, but you can also request to fund resources or a trip for your own professional learning. You’ll need to describe your students and how they’ll benefit from the project you’re requesting.
“Be specific about what you need and demonstrate how it’s going to be used,” said Kucsma. After your project is reviewed and posted, you should share it with your students and their families so they can share it with their own social networks.
Kucsma advises taking advantage of the DonorsChoose “matching” days, when donations are doubled, to stretch your contributions further.
Fundraise. Lisa Orsini, who teaches 4th grade at PS/MS 34 in Manhattan, posts on local Facebook pages geared for moms. “Donations come pouring in!” she said.
Another strategy is to set up a GoFundMe campaign for your classroom project. A successful GoFundMe campaign has the advantage of flexibility — teachers don’t need to go through specific channels to acquire their resources, as grant winners do on DonorsChoose, so you’ll have more options for how to spend the money and you can take time to search for the best deals. GoFundMe campaigns, however, tend to be limited to the fundraiser’s immediate community.
Take advantage of free materials. Plenty of New York City organizations offer free supplies to public school teachers.
Materials for the Arts, a division of the city Department of Cultural Affairs, distributes free art supplies.
At Project Cicero’s annual book drive, 1,200 teachers at eligible Title 1 schools load up as many books as they can transport. You can register starting Feb. 1 for the annual event, which will take place on March 9–10, 2024.
The nonprofit First Book teams up regularly with the UFT and its parent organization, the AFT, to provide free books to New York City communities in need, so keep your eye out for the next event.