As Bay Area teachers prepare for the new school year, many are digging into their own pockets to buy supplies.
In the South Bay, most teachers head to a nonprofit called RAFT. It’s a special spot in San Jose with 32,000 square feet of discounted classroom items.
“Our educators come here because it’s very, very low cost,” RAFT’s Kate Ball said. “A lot of teachers are sometimes expected to pay out of pocket to supply their classrooms, so we’re trying to help that need.”
RAFT said teachers spend between $500 and $1,000 per year on school supplies.
At Santee Elementary School in San Jose on Tuesday, Imelda Murillo was getting her classroom ready for her students, who arrive on Monday.
“Sometimes we do have donations, like tissue, Kleenex, and things like that, which doesn’t seem like a school would need, but we do,” she said. “Paper towels – sometimes we run out of paper towels – hand soap, disinfectant wipes, those kinds of things that you don’t necessarily think are related to an education, but we need all of those things.”
Teachers are given a stipend for the school year. District officials said they wish they could give more. At campuses like Santee, teachers said it’s not nearly enough to cover the costs of giving children the quality education they deserve.