Teachers Spend Way Too Much Of Their Own Money On School Supplies, And Here's Proof

It's not DeAnn Moran's responsibility to buy supplies for her second-grade students when their parents and schools do not. But she has consistently done so for the more than 20 years she has been teaching. 

"Their little faces are just devastated when they don’t have books and colors," she said of her Moore Public Schools students in Oklahoma. "It's amazing what that can do for a child."

Moran estimates that she spends $4,000 to $6,000 of her own money on supplies for her students each year. The number has increased over the past few years, she said, as Oklahoma has slashed education funding. Moran's district, which was devastated by a tornado in 2013, is especially in need of resources.

Teacher salaries in Oklahoma are also some of the lowest in the nation.

"We as teachers have to find ways to be creative because I'm going to do whatever it takes to be creative for our children, even if that means it comes out of my pocket," Moran said.

She is not alone. All around the country educators are being forced to do more with less. Last year, teachers spent an average of about $500 of their own money on supplies for students.

We asked teachers on Twitter and Facebook to share how much they were spending on back-to-school supplies.

 Here is what they had to say: 

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