"A lot of my students come without school supplies, so I buy extra notebooks and pencils. Working with students with disabilities, I also buy a lot of prizes and incentives. For example they earn star stickers when they complete assignments or help pick up around the classroom.
I also buy decorations for my classroom, and I've accumulated things during the 30 years I've been teaching, but the school system demands a lot from us and keeps cutting back budgets. Now we only get $110 to buy things for our classroom. Even before the cut, the amount was a joke.
But knowing me, I'll spend more of my own money. But it's getting tough, and I may have to cut back because we haven't gotten a raise in a few years, and things are tight." -- as told to Hibah Yousuf
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