Essentials Magazine Essentials Fall 2016 | Page 28

Get Teachers to Spend
Their Classroom Dollars with You
BY JENNY SCHUMACHER

I

t’s a fact: Teachers have tremendous purchasing power. Every school
year they spend hundreds of their personal dollars on items for their
classrooms. The key to tapping into that purchasing power is earning
their attention, loyalty and respect by meeting them on the channels
they’re using to research and make purchases, and by offering ways to
save money.
Each year, Agile Education Marketing and SheerID team up to produce
the Understanding Teacher Spending
and Loyalty survey. Compiled from the
responses of more than 500 PreK-12
teachers across the U.S., this year’s survey gives education vendors an insightful look into teacher purchasing habits
and preferences.

Teacher Spending Remains Stable
During the 2015–2016 school year,
teachers spent an average of $487 of
their own money to purchase items for
their classrooms. This is only a slight
$3 decrease since the previous school

28 essentials | fall 2016

year, when educators reported spending
an average of $490 out-of-pocket. The
number of teachers who spent $200
or more increased 6 percent over last
year to 77 percent. Results indicate
that a bulk of those dollars — around
81 percent — went toward purchasing
classroom supplies. Other spending categories include instructional materials,
books for the classroom and professional
development materials.
In addition to out-of-pocket spending, schools often provide teachers
with a budget for purchasing classroom
supplies each year. According to Agile’s
2013 Classroom Purchasing Power

report, the amount teachers receive is
often contingent on where they teach.
On average, Catholic and public schools
provide teachers with about $270 a
year for their classrooms, while private
schools provide significantly more —
approximately $679.
Teachers also often play a key role
in decision-making and purchasing
of certain types of products schoolwide. Results from an Agile survey
conducted in May 2016 indicate that
teachers are often directly involved
with purchasing supplemental materials and classroom supplies. On the
other hand, principals are often more
involved with purchases of core curriculum materials, computer hardware
and software.
When it comes time to make purchases, digital channels prevail. More
educators make classroom purchases
online than in actual stores. Most make
those purchases on computers, followed
by mobile devices such as tablets and
smartphones.