The Soaring Price of School Supplies and How You Can Help Kids and Teachers in Need

By Abby Quillen

Environmental & Personal Wellness Expert

This article is a cross-post from our colleagues at Quill.com whose education resource center blog offers a number of resources for teachers, parents, and educators of all types.

There’s no getting around it: School supplies are expensive. And because of school budget cuts, a larger portion of the cost of outfitting classrooms falls on parents and teachers. However, some communities are devising innovative solutions from teaming up with charities to holding donation drives and launching crowdfunding campaigns, to make sure students have much-needed school supplies. Read on to learn why so many schools struggle to pay for supplies and discover ways you can help stock a classroom near you while easing the burden on parents and teachers.

Supplying Cash-Strapped Schools

Schools were hit hard by the 2008 recession and the subsequent slow economic recovery. In fact, 35 states provided less overall state and local funding per student in 2014 than they did in 2008.

Districts in low-income areas have struggled most. They don’t receive as much property tax revenue as schools in wealthier areas and are thus most…