More Than Half Of Teachers Report Buying Hungry Students Food With Their Own Money

We often hear about U.S. teachers being paid poorly for all the work they do to educate children. But did you know that 63 percent of teachers report buying food for the classroom each month with their own money? That's just one statistic from a report put out by Share Our Strength, which surveyed teachers across the country about hunger in America's classrooms.

You can download the full Teachers report and learn more surprising facts about hungry kids and the teachers trying to help them at the Share Our Strength site.

Share Our Strength also interviewed two teachers in New York City about their personal experiences with students who have come to depend on them for enough food to get them through the day.

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Comments

[TullyMars]

07:40 PM on 11/29/2009

And it's not just the teachers..­.custodian­s, office staff, and yes, even principals buy clothes and food for kids every day. Thank you all!

[OnePartyEqualsTyranny]

06:58 PM on 11/28/2009

Do you know a teacher? Send a card this holiday with a gift that says for your students. Even if that teacher doesn’t give to their pupils they know one that does. Ask your children who has a hard time getting lunch, I bet they can tell you.

[Kimberly Herbert]

09:18 AM on 11/27/2009

It used to be that the days just before payday was when our older kids would be hungry because they were giving their share of the food to younger kids. Now it is all the time. School breakfasts and lunches are horrible but I have kids that wolf them down and ask for seconds. Our parents were working 2- 3 jobs and are now struggling on 1 or 2 jobs.

Tuesday most kids were looking forward to the break. One of my co-workers had a child break down in class begging her to not close the school - because then I won't get anything to eat. She and our social worker were going to take food to the family when I left school Tuesday. Social worker had a couple of job prospects for the parents who had just been laid off.

Another time nurse and social worker had a mom's chemo schedule, and they would make sure the kids got extra food before they left school and a nap the next day. The family couldn't afford to eat in the Medical center. Mom tried to schedule her chemo later in the day so the boys could stay in school. THey had to go with her to the medical center because she was afraid the gangs would take advantage of her being gone to suck her boys into their life.

The school has become their extended family because grandparen­ts, aunts, uncles, and cousins are thousands of miles away.

[hypnotoad72]

09:20 AM on 11/26/2009

Nice to read humans doing what corporatio­ns won't.

[GirlFriday123]

08:13 AM on 11/27/2009

Makes you think about how much your kids' teachers really do for them, doesn't it?

They deserve a lot of respect.

[MadHeart]

05:30 PM on 11/25/2009

Look, I know there is poverty in this country--I myself grew up in poverty and worked hard to raise my own kids after a divorce w/no help. So, I expect criticism for what I'm going to say. Neither I nor my kids got "free lunch." Even though I was doing clerical work and was not well off by any means, my kids got lunch money every day--from me. They also got a hot breakfast every morning. We lived in rentals and had no extras. They got gifts on birthdays and xmas--not any any other time. I didn't even have a car until I was 27 (rode the bus), and they were in elementary school--th­ey walked about 8 blocks, and I didn't have to worry about them being harrassed. They loved their teachers and principal, too, and were taught to respect them for the education they were getting.

I know it's a different time, and all, but cheeeez, you gotta think about the basics, like food, shelter and clothing before anything else. And how many kids go home to an empty house (I paid an after school sitter), and have almost no interactio­n with parents who are content to veg-out in front of a big screen TV? If 36% of all teachers are having to provide food, that's way over the poverty line, even in this economy.

Teachers should not be expected to be surrogate parents--p­eople will start accepting it as normal.

[GirlFriday123]

08:12 AM on 11/27/2009

I think it's easy for those of us with jobs and enough to eat to say, "I'm doing it, why can't everyone else." but nobody really knows what the parents of the other kids are going through.

We work, and things are always tight, but we always keep our heads just above water. However, we don't have health insurance through our jobs and there are very few employers in our area offer it. We make too much for medicaid, but there's no way we can afford it on our own. But we still count ourselves lucky because our local hospital is a non-profit and lets us pay our bills in installmen­ts when they occur. So a big part of our ability to stay above water is the luck of having that facility in our town, and we know that even two towns over there are a lot of people who are not so lucky (and people who lose their homes because of lack of insurance and one big medical bill).

And, I suspect at least a little luck is part of most people's circumstan­ces.

[JackRusselTerrier]

11:29 PM on 11/24/2009

Teachers are GREAT people.

[JackRusselTerrier]

11:23 PM on 11/24/2009

There are those in need.
If you cannot donate money or food that's OK.

Things YOU can do to help...

Donate food or time at a local food bank.
http://fee­dingameric­a.org/

Volunter in a community garden where the food is donated to the local food bank.
http://www­.community­garden.org­/

Volunter for Habitat for Humanity.
http://www­.habitat.o­rg/

Donate to a charity.
Find a charity. Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most-utili­zed evaluator of charities.
http://www­.charityna­vigator.or­g/

Help a neighbor. Be a friend.

[MadHeart]

06:34 PM on 11/25/2009

I do. Tomorrow will be turkey w/all the trimmings-­-all of it done by me from scratch (except the pumpkin pie--I'm not a great baker). Everyone I know is invited, just in case they aren't cooking for one, or have no place to go). I'm not well off, but any one of my neighbors or relatives know they will get fed if they come here any other time of the year, too. Good food is more important to me than anything.

[onrecess]

09:24 PM on 11/24/2009

Of course, every teacher knows families that make a tiny bit too much to get free lunch. Most of us buy kids food and provide snacks and so on. The disgrace is that here in Broward County FL they RAISED meal prices saying the food services must MAKE A PROFIT! Sick.
Google Earth for Coconut Creek El. Note the two huge blue sun shades for kids who now start school in August heat. They were paid for 1/2 by the PTA and half from the teacher's bonus for making the school an "A School" at, I believe, about $15,000 for the half- that the teachers voted to give to the benefit of the kids.
Yeah, we buy the food, copy paper, pencils, markers, dry erase markers for the board, classroom libraries (what is a classroom without a class library?), this year $5,000 worth of library books out of said bonus (as they must throw out thousands of outdated books and buy none.... I could go on forever.

This just in: teachers are teachers because they know what is most important in life.
Hint: Not money, or summer vacations, or grading papers at home every night and weekend, or teaching to a pointless test (we are a Title 1 school- high free lunch - and an A so forget teachers don't want testing cause they can't teach to a test, we just know that isn't teaching).
We make a difference every day. Most people just make money.

[MIVOTE]

09:06 PM on 11/24/2009

That' what teacher do. Buy food, ensure student have clothing, help families find resources to pay energy bills, comb hair and keep hygiene products. Buy books, pay for field trips....T­hat what concerned educators do. This is nothing new.

[Flavor]

08:29 PM on 11/24/2009

I can believe this, we often think that we don't have hunger here in America but that is a lie, we should be ashamed of ourselves for not doing more to help. Overall, this is a disgrace to the human race that our children still go to school hungry & I thank god that these teachers have reconized the hunger pains. God bless all our good teachers.

[Tim303]

06:56 PM on 11/24/2009

My daughter's teacher does this.

[ProudNeoCon]

06:49 PM on 11/24/2009

did anyone read the report? 63% refers to teachers who say that their student regularly come to the school hungry (pages 14,15,19). However on the page 11 it says that that specific sample represent only 62% of all teachers. Therefore the real number is 63%*62% or 36% of all teachers. I am not saying that 36% is not a huge number, but why did Huff had to go and lie? It just make them that much less credible

[onrecess]

09:30 PM on 11/24/2009

Yes, simple statistics would clearly say the other 38% unrepresen­ted were the uncaring teachers in it for the money. Sigh. No doubt they were rural teachers - harder to find and survey- who no doubt have MORE hungry kids.

[petef59]

09:58 PM on 11/24/2009

'NeoCon' Proud to bash a teacher whenever the word teacher is spoken or written.

[laborgrunt]

04:01 PM on 11/24/2009

There is an environmen­t out there today where teachers are being attacked for the lackluster performanc­e of America's schools when compared to other countries. The debate centers around how to improve teacher performanc­e and not on the core issues. In our urban school districts the achievemen­t gap has been blamed on our teachers and not on the national economic polices that have led to the dangerous economic stratifica­tion of our communitie­s.
Its crazy, no one is blaming Chicago PD for the crime rate in Chicago, but they are blaming teachers and closing schools down. Teachers just like cops can only do the best with what they are given by society.

[zola77]

06:23 PM on 11/25/2009

Great comment.

[Validusername]

03:16 PM on 11/24/2009

I been involved in public education (teacher, principal, now a volunteer) for 42 years. I've paid for both breakfast and lunch for hungry students. Most poor children get a federally subsidized lunch now, but there is still the occasional child that needs money for food. For many of them breakfast and lunch served at school are the only decent meals they can count on receiving on any given day. I've even had students who attend after school programs, primarily, to get the snack provided. That helps tide them over until the next day. Food is the most basic thing I ever provided, but many of us have also provided clothing for children. Sometimes its an outfit for a special event, but often it's just everyday school clothing. People have no idea what teachers do for their students every single day. I'm not complainin­g; I love the process of educating young people, but sometimes it is sooo frustratin­g.

[Nomccain]

03:03 PM on 11/24/2009

This is true and it's a national disgrace. Not only that, but many teachers take part of their own salary and buy school supples, toilet paper, and other supplies because there's not enough money. It's so clear that this nation has become a nation of the priviliged and wealthy and everyone else has no voice any more. We are the United Corporatio­n of America and long live the mighty dollar until it's not worth the paper it's printed on which may not be long in coming. They see it........­.and yet they do NOTHING!

[laborgrunt]

04:01 PM on 11/24/2009

There is an environmen­t out there today where teachers are being attacked for the lackluster performanc­e of America's schools when compared to other countries. The debate centers around how to improve teacher performanc­e and not on the core issues. In our urban school districts the achievemen­t gap has been blamed on our teachers and not on the national economic polices that have led to the dangerous economic stratifica­tion of our communitie­s.
Its crazy, no one is blaming Chicago PD for the crime rate in Chicago, but they are blaming teachers and closing schools down. Teachers just like cops can only do the best with what they are given by society.