The cost of teaching has gone up as teachers are increasingly having to pay for teaching supplies and teaching tools out of their own pockets. Tight budgets are largely to blame but what can teachers do now to bridge the funding gap without taking on the financial burden.

Dan Domenech is executive director of the American Association of School Administrator. Sabrina Stevens currently leads the Voices from the Classroom project at the American Federation of Teachers. Heather Wolpert-Gawron is an award-winning middle school teacher in Los Angeles. She has authored workbooks on teaching Internet Literacy. Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed., over 20 years experience in the field of early childhood education as a teacher, director, curriculum writer.