Governor Roy Cooper announced a statewide school supply drive at Pearsontown Elementary School in Durham yesterday. The drive will run from August 14th to September 8, and people interested in donating school materials can drop them off at branches of the State Employees Credit Union, state government offices and businesses that partner with the North Carolina Business Committee on Education.
“The one thing we know is far too often teachers are having to dip into their own pockets to cover the cost of classroom supplies — supplies their students need to learn, and supplies that the state currently is not providing for them,” Cooper said at a press conference.
Cooper cited a Forbes study which found that teachers, on average, spent $500 of their own cash each year for school supplies.
The items requested for the drive are:
- All types of paper
- Pens, pencils, and dry erase markers
- Spiral notebooks
- Tissues and sanitizing wipes
In his proposed budget earlier this year, Cooper proposed a $150 stipend for teachers to use on classroom supplies. The General Assembly did not adopt his proposal in its final budget.
Cooper was asked if this was one of the reasons that he was announcing his school supply drive. Below is his answer, along with images from his tour of the elementary school.
Below is Cooper’s announcement of the supply drive at the press conference.
