HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. — Last school year, the COVID-19 federal relief fund brought $1,000 bonuses to teachers across Tennessee. It was intended to help with the out-of-pocket costs of being a teacher. But one East Tennessee teacher said that just weeks into the school year, they could already use another round of relief.
With classes in full swing, Georgia Gross said she's right back where she started.
"You don't realize how much money put in until you have to put it in," she said.
According to the Tennessee Department of Education, the average public-school teacher salary in Tennessee is $53,997. However, for teachers like Gross who are just starting out, the pay is closer to $38,000.
"A 23-year-old living on my own, fully paying for my stuff with the salaries that teachers make," Gross said. "Teachers, we don't get paid enough to do what we do.”
In just her third week of the school year, the Hawkins County teacher said she's already spent a pretty penny on classroom materials — between $300 and $400.
“Teachers spend their own money so much on classrooms and school supplies and just so much," she said. "It really is kind of devastating.”
According to a nationwide survey, teachers spent an average of $745 on school supplies for the entire last school year.
"It was wild starting my first year in a pandemic," said Gross. "We had to have so much extra prepared even though we barely had our feet yet in a normal classroom.”
Now in her second year, she's already on track to beat last year's national average and said her school supply allowance doesn't help much. She said she only around $200, and that she already spent it on school supplies.
But with more federal support or not, Gross said she'd spend whatever it takes to make sure her students have what they need.
"It's all about the kids," she said. "They've gone through so much and we've gone through so much.”
In Knox County, there is a Teacher Supply Depot where people can donate new and used classroom materials to teachers. They take donations any weekday they just ask you before you drop off. To find details about the Teacher Supply Depot, click here.