ROCKFORD, Mich. — Two weeks before the start of school, Rockford 4th grade teacher Lisa Schroeder showed us around her new classroom at Crestwood Elementary.
![IMG_9777[1].jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c0f19b8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2268+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2Ffa%2Feef53fa54c37a5e7aa8298575fef%2Fimg-97771.jpg)
This one is her eleventh classroom in over 37 years of teaching.
After nearly four decades of teaching, she's become a pro at interior design.
When we stopped in, she'd already spent 3.5 hours the previous night filling in bookshelves, adding coffee mugs to the cupboards and putting borders around the bulletin boards.
As she lists off her to-do list, she points to the heating unit in the corner and says, "That's going to turn into the refrigerator so that the kids can put pictures on it like your refrigerator at home."
To complete her vision, she even bought a magnetic shower curtain rod that looks like a door handle.
She turns toward her windows and adds that she has a set of curtains at home that will eventually go up.
As Mrs. Schroeder explains her vision, it's clear that these four walls are not just a classroom.
"Just to make this a place that when you come in, it's coming home. I want this to be a home away from home," says Schroeder.
But the shelves and blank bullet boards of this home can come at a cost.
"I started teaching years ago with, I'll just be honest, hundreds of dollars, and over time it hasn't been as much."
Rockford Elementary School teachers get $9 per student. With 21 students, that's $189.00 for the year.
"You just get flexible with it and you don't spend it all at the very beginning of the year," says Schroeder.
The Michigan Constitution requires all schools to provide the resources needed for a basic education.
Rockford Superintendent Dr. Steve Matthews, says that's "paper, pencils, textbooks, library books."
Dr. Matthews adds that Rockford Schools provide that and more, "It's really important for us to meet the needs of all our kids that come to school."
But he also recognizes that it isn't always enough and teachers bridge the funding gap on their own.
"We provide all the materials that they need to run their classroom. But a teacher is not built that way, a teacher became a teacher because they want to connect with kids, and one of the ways that they find to connect with kids, is to create a classroom environment that is meaningful and engaging," says Matthews.
According to the 2023 nationwide Teacher Spending Survey from Adopt a Classroom, the average teacher spent $860 out-of-pocket on classroom education materials during the last school year.
For this coming year, 84% say they need the basics. Mrs. Schroeder adds, "The money that Rockford does give me, I can use that to supplement the things that perhaps are not there."
But even with paying out-of-pocket, Mrs. Schroeder says it's easy to see the district's investment.
All K-8 classrooms are equipped with their own library, and this year, every high school English teacher will have their own library as well.
"Whether you're a brand new teacher or a teacher like me, we have an amazing library that Rockford provided to us. That is phenomenal," says Schroeder.
And this year, some classrooms including Mrs. Schroeder's, are getting new, flexible seating, like rockers and cushions.
But still, Dr. Matthews wishes more could be done. "Even if we told them, we're not going to allow you to spend any money on your classrooms, teachers wouldn't abide by that," he says.
And as Mrs. Schroeder puts it, "Do I have to buy things out of pocket? No. But I do."
She explains that last year she had a student that struggled to find something they enjoyed reading. When they finally found a series, Mrs. Schroeder pulled every copy that Crestwood had before heading to garage sales and thrift stores to find any others.
Her goal — to fill her shelves and her room, one book at a time.
"I may have decorated at the beginning, but by the end of this year, this is going to be covered with them, not me, and I'm excited."
We spoke to several other Michigan Teachers from all over the state about how much they spend on educational materials for their classroom.
We learned that procedures varied across districts. Some provide a couple of hundred dollars upfront, others have teachers submit receipts for reimbursement.
But still, teachers continue to rely on Amazon wish lists and donations, and many new teachers say their first year, is the most expensive.
Read More: Advocated, lawmakers push for higher pay, increased respect for teachers.
