SAN DIEGO — Liz Nava is a teacher at San Diego's Empower Language Academy. She's in the thick of preparing her classroom for her students arrival of the 2024 school year. She just switched to teaching kindergarten this year and has to start decorating her classroom from scratch. Due to the switch her school gave her a small allowance to buy some new supplies, but she knows that is not always the case.
"Eventually some of it is going to have to be out of pocket," said Nava.
According to adoptaclassroom.org, teachers spend an average of $860 out of pocket on classroom supplies. Nava said to set up a classroom like her's, it is way more expensive.
"A thousand, definitely more than a thousand, just to get materials and everything, it's just what's expected as a teacher," said Nava.
The report also states 16% of teachers work a second job to support their education career. Nava says she has gotten thrifty to save some money.
"I'm looking into Offerup, the buy-nothing app, I've seen teachers post, you get to ask for things, and offer things all for free," said Nava.
Many of her friends have created an Amazon Wishlist.
"That's what most of the teachers that I've seen do. Every teacher spends out of pocket, even me, I mean it's just the nature of the job," said Nava.
But she can look past all the expenses to do what she loves.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to have a model or someone who looked like me, and now I have the opportunity to be that for the next generation," said Nava.
If you want to help Nava set up her classroom you can find her Amazon Wishlist here.
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