CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Teachers are preparing to bring students back into the classrooms, but they’re facing issues stocking up on supplies.
Generally, each room has the district-allotted basics like desks, chairs, and a stapler. But teachers often take on the burden of buying extra pencils, tissue paper, and notebooks, which students need throughout the year.
Teachers across Charlotte and around the area are no exception.
"It's tiny things that some people just would pick up when they go to the store and not even think about it. It's even tissues. It's Clorox wipes," Mandy Cobb, a 3rd-grade teacher in Lincoln County, said.
For the past few years, teachers have taken over social media with the hashtag #clearthelist. It helps share wish lists so donated items can help teachers stock their classrooms with extra supplies.
"We kind of keep a general list that we want the students to come in and provide if they're able, but of course, we don't require that they have any of that," Cobb said.
Teachers are often supplementing school supply lists that are the responsibility of parents in addition to items they don't have access to during the school year from their school district.
"I noticed last year, my students needed lots of social and emotional support. So my list is filled with lots of things that will go along with that for them," Cobb said.
Her list includes items like cushions or chair bands for kids with sensory needs.
Teachers take on the burden of supplying these extra items because they're not in their districts’ budget. School districts receive funding primarily from the state government, and are supplemented by federal grants and local funds.
Extra school supplies and classroom items often fall low on the list of priorities to fund, according to teachers.
Retailers like Target are trying to help teachers with extended discounts, but inflation has caused prices to go up for school supplies. The state of South Carolina also offers a $250 tax break for teachers who spend their money on supplies.
“You will find these images of the picture that says the government-funded classroom and the teacher-funded classroom," Raymona Green, an Exceptional Children teacher in the Charlotte area said. Her list consists of extra items she needs to best help her students with special needs learn.
Some teachers on social media are taking a stand against the normalization of teachers subsidizing their own classrooms.
Many teachers wished #clearthelist didn’t have to exist.
"We retweet them, but the teachers are the ones that are buying the stuff off of everyone's list," Green said. "And I say that because we're the ones that understand what a teacher-funded classroom looks like."
The Charlotte-area teachers say they’re hoping for the day when school districts can supply every necessity.
"One day the hashtag #clearthelist may not be a thing anymore, because we get it funded," Green said.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.