When Harrison Williams Ivins, a Houston County teacher, walked into his first classroom as a new teacher, it was completely bare—no teacher’s desk, paper, pencils, or even basic office supplies. “I had to provide all of that for myself,” said Ivins, a Houston County teacher. “My school gave me about $100 to get some supplies, but everything else—decorations, printer paper, materials—was out of pocket.”
Teachers across Georgia, and particularly in Bibb County, are facing similar challenges, spending hundreds of dollars each year to meet their students’ needs. Although educators can deduct up to $300 on their federal tax returns for classroom expenses, many say that’s only a fraction of what they actually spend.
According to a 2024 Educator Study by Adopt a Classroom, essential classroom supplies rank the highest spending category, both spent and requested, among teachers. This includes items imperative to the function of the classroom, such as pens, paper, crayons, and rulers. The National Center for Education suggests that educators may spend over $820 annually on out-of-pocket costs for their classroom expenses.
“There is an expectation that we do provide something to enrich the environment for our students…” Ivins said. “But all of that costs money, and if we’re not being provided that money by the state or by the school, ultimately it comes down onto the teacher.”
However, for many teachers, their financial responsibilities stretch far beyond the essentials. For many teachers, out-of-pocket costs mean providing students with other basic necessities, such as food or hygiene items. In the 2024 AdoptAClassroom survey, 81% of teachers said they have at least one student who relies on them for food, hygiene items, and/or school supplies. This points to a larger issue of financial insecurity among students, and how failure to address it has created a burden for teachers to come out of their salaries.
“I try to make sure that I have lots of resources for students who don’t have the same resources as other kids,” Ivins said. “I want to make sure they have paper, they have pencils, they have all of the different classroom materials that they may need to learn… but obviously that means that I’ve got to buy all those somehow.”
“Everyone who goes into teaching knows it’s not going to be a high-paying profession, regardless of where you go,” said Susan Morrissey, an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at Mercer University. “So it’s more of a – ‘This is what I want to do, I want to make a difference in these kids’ lives.”
Bibb County teachers experience additional hurdles to classroom expenses, as on average, their salaries rank lower when compared to other areas. The average starting salary in Bibb is $43,000, which is $5,000 less than in Houston County, a neighboring county with a similar cost of living. Furthermore, after 20 years of experience, Bibb County teachers can, on average, expect to make $20,000 less than their Houston counterparts (Bibb County School District and Houston County Schools, 2024).
“Teachers have to spend less because the district is able to provide more,” Morrisey says on funding. “Teachers might still prefer to buy their own specific classroom expenses that belong to them.”
Across the nation, teacher incomes have declined, with Bibb especially experiencing low salaries. According to a National Education Association report for the 2022-23 school year, Georgia ranked 20th in average salaries and 39th overall in the nation for starting salaries. Bibb County in particular, experiences overall lower salaries compared to the national average, with an 11% lower salary than the national average, according to the NEA.
According to the Social Security Administration, in 2023, the average salary for Bibb County teachers was 17.5% lower than the national average. This creates additional hurdles to their out-of-classroom expenses, as their salaries cannot fully support the needs of financially dependent students.
However, there have been some implementations created to address the growing problem of out-of-pocket expenses. For the 2025 fiscal year, Gov. Brian Kemp implemented a $2,500 raise for public school teachers. Additionally, Bibb County implemented a 2% increase for teacher salaries, aiding in the fight for higher wages.
However, despite salaries rising over the last decade, an estimated 47% of teachers still report needs are unfulfilled due to inflation. According to the 2024 Educator Study, when adjusted for inflation, teachers make 20% less than they did previously.
There have been effective initiatives to create meaningful change, such as various crowdsourcing sites to gain support for teacher initiatives. Donor’s Choice and Adopt a Classroom are among these, providing teacher-oriented support in receiving donations. Adopt a Classroom supports 20-30,000 classrooms annually, with 90% of those schools being considered high need.
While some teachers turn to crowdsourcing sites like these to alleviate the burden of classroom costs, others, like Ivins, remain unfamiliar with these specific resources. “To be honest, I’ve never heard of those websites,” Ivins said. “But I do think—I mean—any funding helps, especially when you have teachers who are trying to support underfunded or marginalized communities who may lack resources and need that support.”
While not aware of those efforts, Ivins has experienced the positive impact of external funding through a grant his school received for a civics program. “They wanted us to cater towards students who may be in marginalized communities or who were in low-income housing,” he said. “So we were able to get eight students at our school involved in this program.”
He emphasized how transformative the opportunity was for those involved. “A lot of them, without that funding, would have never had that opportunity,” Ivins said.“I had one of my students, and she told me she was like, ‘I never was interested in social studies. I was never interested in government, but this is what I want to do now, like, I want to help people, and I want to make the world a better place.’”
“Part of the reason that was even possible is we were able to get funding to help support kids,” he added. “And so I think that kind of speaks to the importance of providing funding for education as well.”
