NYC parents and teachers brace for expensive back-to-school season as inflation raises cost of supplies

New York City parents and teachers are bracing for a financially painful back-to-school season as inflation drives up the cost of school supplies.

“Last year prices for a notebook were like 50 cents, now it seems like $3 for a composition notebook,” said Lilibeth Samayoa, the mother of an eight-year-old at Public School 273 in Richmond Hill, Queens. “It’s crazy…we’re really feeling it.”

Samayoa said the rising prices have forced her to do more bargain hunting — shuttling back and forth between Walmart, Target and online retailers to find the best deal, costing her time on top of dollars and cents.

“There’s just a lot more pressure this year,” she said.

Samoa isn’t alone — a recent national survey by Morning Consult found that only 36% of parents felt confident they could afford back-to-school supplies this year, down from 52% last year.

The price of notebooks, paper, pens and pencils is up roughly 11% compared to a year ago, according to Marketwatch.

More than 60% of families across the country said they were preparing to spend more than $250 per kid this back-to-school season, according to the Morning Consult survey — the highest percentage in the past five years.

And inflation is still hitting the pockets of parents and teachers even when it’s not directly related to the price school supplies — leaving them with less cash on hand for back-to-school needs because they’re spending more on other things.

“Everything from food to cleaning products, everything just across the board has gone up and even gas going back and forth to school,” said Dawn Kernahan, a special education teacher in Brooklyn.

The rising cost of everyday goods is also colliding with a shaky economic situation for many families, said Traci Donnelly, the CEO of The Child Center of New York, an organization that provides services to low-income New Yorkers.

The expiration of the federal Child Tax Credit, which provided qualifying low and middle-income families with hundreds of dollars per child per month during the pandemic, was a “devastating” blow to many families still recovering from the economic impact and job losses, Donnelly said.

“It’s really like a perfect storm for unmet need in New York City,” she added.

Gov. Hochul promised earlier this month to send $44 million to New York families receiving public assistance to defray the costs of school supplies, reaching an estimated 184,000 families with one-time cash infusions of $214 per child.

The back-to-school cost crunch isn’t just hitting parents.

Educators also routinely spend hundreds of dollars of their own money stocking their classrooms, refilling communal supplies, and providing students with items their families may not be able to afford.

Schools with wealthy Parent Associations can raise extra funds to fill the gap — but PTA fundraising varies wildly across the city, with many schools with high poverty rates reporting no extra cash.

“Printer paper, any sort of subscriptions… sometimes getting the basics of crayons, markers, papers. Everything pretty much comes out of your pocket,” said Kernahan, the Brooklyn special education teacher, who estimated she spent roughly $500 of her own money on supplies last year.

The “Teacher’s Choice” program negotiated between the city and the teachers union supplies each educator with $250 a year to help pay for supplies, but Kernahan said it’s never enough to cover what she needs. She worries that steep cuts based on declining enrollment to city school budgets could further limit the amount of financial help teachers get from their schools to cover classroom goods.

“It turns into more legwork” for teachers to independently seek out grants or raise money through other avenues like Donors Choose, she added.

Some nonprofits are stepping in to try to ease the financial burden.

The Child Center has held a distribution every year for its families with free backpacks stuffed with school supplies, but given the extra need this year, the organization is hoping to triple its reach by giving out 12,000 knapsacks.

Samayoa got a free backpack last year from the Child Center for her daughter Ariana, and hopes to receive another this year.

“It’s very helpful,” she said. “Everything you need for the school year, there’s books, folders, pencils...it’s like a stress off your shoulders.”