SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – As inflation rises, so do the prices of school supplies.
Former teacher Hozby Galindo says this affects not only families struggling to make ends meet, but also teachers.
“With inflation and rising costs, this is hard and a burden for some families. Teachers are willing to bear this burden and help families by investing some of their own money,” said Hozby Galindo.
Galindo said many teachers reported spending over $1,000 on everything from classroom decorations to materials for students.
Parents are keen to give something back to their teachers.
“What’s your teacher’s name? Teacher Amy. And we like to buy things for the school, for the teachers, because that can be pretty expensive. And I think it’s one thing to make sure that she’s taking care of all the kids in her class, that they all have needs and stuff,” said Jasmin Brown, who lives in Beaumont.
Last year this lunch box cost $21, this year it costs $24.
“I would say about 10% more for all the school supplies. I have three kids who go to local schools and buying everything is a lot of money,” said Jenny Bouma, owner of Chicken Little.
The National Retail Federation estimates that families can expect to spend an average of $875 per child in preschool through 12th grade and $1,365 per college student.
“If we talk about my son, who is a senior, we have a lot of expenses because we have to pay for that. The SAT again, definitely for the college applications. Finally, he needs to travel so he can be successful and pursue his dreams,” Galindo said.
And as students seek higher education, costs continue to rise.
Back-to-school spending is expected to reach $39 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Spending on college enrollment is expected to reach $87 billion this year.
