Educators Share Tips for Stocking Up — Without Reaching Into Their Own Wallets.

The tough economy spells bad news for public schools. As states put the squeeze on already tight education budgets, school districts nationwide are looking to cut back without sacrificing too much. As a result, funding for classroom supplies is growing increasingly scarce when it’s not being eliminated altogether.That means teachers are spending their own hard-earned cash not only to buy pencils, pens, and notebooks for students whose families cannot always afford to do so but also to pay for photocopies, chalk, dry-erase markers, posters, and bulletin board decorations. K-12 public school teachers can easily dole out more than $1,000 a year for classroom supplies. As school budgets continue to tighten, that figure is escalating, says James Rosenberg, founder and executive director of Adopt-A-Classroom, which has raised $10 million for supplies for 20,000 classrooms in all 50 states in the past decade.In this Edutopia article educators share successes and resources for cutting down on classroom supplies costs.  Tips include sell advertising space, don’t buy what you can get free, go for the big score, organize a school-supply drive or a fundraiser.  Read the full article at http://www.edutopia.org/free-school-supplies-fundraising-donation.