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Back-to-school inflation weighs on families, teachers, schools

by AHTRA ELNASHAR | The National Desk

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As summer begins to start winding down, parents will soon have to make their way to the store for school supplies, but they'll be paying more this year. (KWCH/CBS Newspath)
As summer begins to start winding down, parents will soon have to make their way to the store for school supplies, but they'll be paying more this year. (KWCH/CBS Newspath)
As summer begins to start winding down, parents will soon have to make their way to the store for school supplies, but they'll be paying more this year. (KWCH/CBS Newspath)
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As summer begins to start winding down, parents will soon have to make their way to the store for school supplies, but they'll be paying more this year. (KWCH/CBS Newspath)
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WASHINGTON (TND) — As communities get ready for the new school year, many are faced with financial obstacles brought on by the highest inflation rate in more than four decades.

The average household is expected to spend $864 on back-to-school shopping this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That's $15 more than 2021 and $167 more than pre-pandemic 2019.

Inflationary pressure has put small business owners in an especially tough spot. Tom Sieber's family has owned the teacher supply store School House in Green Bay, Wisconsin for more than 40 years.

“We haven’t been immune to the inflation that’s been going on across the country so we’ve had to raise some prices depending how vendors have raised their prices," Sieber told WLUK.

While 68% of shoppers have noticed higher prices on classroom items, shoppers have noticed the highest price increases on clothing and accessories, according to the NRF.

According to June's Consumer Price Index, boys' clothing prices were up 6.5% from June 2021 while girls' clothing was up 1.8%. The overall annual inflation rate sat at 9.1%. Many school budgets aren't keeping up.

In the suburbs of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Bixby Public Schools is having an especially tough time with costs for diesel and food. Superintendent Rob Miller told KTUL it's got them "working upside down."

“Nearly every expense that we have as a school district has increased significantly just in the last year or two but the amount of money that we receive from the state has not," Miller said.

The labor shortage, which economists say is a contributor of inflationary pressure, is costing schools. Hundreds of staff vacancies in Syracuse City Schools recently pushed the school board to approve hiring incentives which included $3,250 for new teachers.

Teachers, who often already bear the financial burden of paying for their own school supplies, face an especially expensive school year. According to a survey of 5,400 teachers by non-profit AdoptAClassroom.org, teachers spent an average of $750 of their own money for school supplies during the 2020-2021 school year.

KFOX spoke to teachers in El Paso, Texas who are already struggling with the expense. Alexandria Piña is a first-year teacher and said she spent between $400 and $500 on supplies with her first paycheck.

Elizabeth Enriquez Payan is almost a decade into her teaching career and said many don't realize what teachers work through behind the scenes.

“You want to get all the materials that you need for your students to be successful," Enriquez Payan said. "And now to think, OK wait a minute. Can I afford this?”

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