The Concord teachers union and the school board still haven’t reached a contract agreement.
In the meantime, as a protest against the school board, many teachers have removed items from their classrooms that they’ve purchased with their own money.
As New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports, over the years some teachers have spent thousands of their own dollars filling a classroom with supplies the schools can’t afford.
Inside a third grade classroom at Walker Elementary School in Concord, teacher Melissa Noise points to items she says makes her room an inviting place for children to learn.
All this stuff here like my tape players and my lamps, my plants and the cushions on all of the chairs, the stuff in the reading room, the rocking chair, little stuffed animals all the things that basically make it cozy..
All of those items - and the list keeps going - Noise purchased with her own money.
She says she buys supplies for her classroom all the time.
When asked to calculate how much money she spends, she couldn’t.
:49 I can’t even tell you I spend so much, today eventhough I knew I shouldn’t, I’m doing a science activity on the moon, so I went out and bought oreo cookies so I could show them the different phases of the moon, so it’s a daily thing you spend money
Teachers aren’t reimbursed for these items because most of the time they’re not in the school budget.
But Concord High School Art teacher Susan Olsen says its standard practice for teachers to bring in supplies, every year.
1:39 it could cost from 2 to 3 hundred dollars up to I know other teachers spend a thousand dollars for things in their classroom. Per year? Yeah
Olsen says she’s bought art books, a vase or statue for students to draw, and she’s brought in her own 600 dollar electric pottery wheel.
Olsen says she’s required to teach ceramics but the kick wheels the school district supplies only go so far.
I teach ceramics so yes I have kick wheels, but I want them to experience something a little bit different I’ll bring in the electric wheel so they can use that, this is something I choose to do because I feel it enhances the experience.
Olsen says veteran elementary school teachers tend to purchase and accumulate the most in their classrooms.
26 year veteran teacher Kathy Donovan fits that bill.
Her classroom at Walker Elementary School is filled with books and organization bins against all four walls.
1233 :45 I have probably close to three or four thousand books in here that are personal property that I’ve bought over many many years
She says there are good reasons to have so many books – kids reading levels in her 2nd grade class range from kindergarten to fourth grade.
At the back of the room is a shelf unit that she bought from a neighbor.
It’s packed with school supplies.
1236 1:03 the containers are mine, the gel pens, the funky scissors, the globe, the whole unit, except for glue sticks and highlighters belong to me.
It seems like Donavan has bought everything but the kitchen sink.
She does have a painted cast iron bathtub in her classroom because she’s found that children like to lay in it and read.
Donavan says if you took everything she’s purchased out of the room, all that would be left are the tables, chairs, a few dozen books, and a couple of shelves.
1236 1 :46 I can’t really put a dollar amount on it cause its over many many years, but I would say at least 75-percent of this classroom belongs to me.
Donavan says while things like rulers and scissors are supplied by the school district budget – if a child breaks one, or if the scissors don’t work as well as they should – she’ll replace them on her own.
1230 :42 it’s little things that I don’t think people realize we’ve done on a daily basis and its our choice, but we’re doing it to make their education better, and we don’t have enough money in our daily school budget
Concord school district isn’t the only district where teachers spend their own money for the classroom– its standard for most teachers.
Concord teachers are just the first ones in the state to remove those items from their classrooms – in order to make a statement about the little extras that can make a difference.
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.
