Balancing school costs as inflation falls

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) – Although inflation has dropped significantly since the pandemic, teachers say they are still feeling the pinch of high prices as they prepare their classrooms for the new school year.

• Video shows McFarland High School teacher putting the finishing touches to his classroom decoration
• Crismat Mateo, the drama teacher at McFarland High School, tells me he is driving to Bakersfield to buy all his school supplies.
• Mateo spent $500 of his own pocket and $800 from the school's lottery budget to prepare his class for the school year.

Purchasing classroom supplies like notebooks might cost a little more this year, but a local teacher is working with his school to provide students with the resources they need.
Four weeks after the start of school, Crismat Mateo, McFarland High School's drama teacher, is putting the finishing touches on his classroom decorations.

“It’s still a little incomplete, but we’re getting it to a point where it feels like home,” Mateo said.

He says preparing his classroom for the new year costs him about $500 out of pocket.

“This year in particular, it was a little difficult to create a budget since it was my first year as an acting teacher,” Mateo said.

He says the school provides an $800 lottery budget to help, but that's not the only thing that worries him.

“The supplies we have here in the city are much more expensive than in Bakersfield,” he said.

Mateo says he sees higher prices being charged for goods in rural areas, forcing him to buy all his supplies in Bakersfield, which he estimates allows him to save 20 to 30 percent.

Still, Mateo says this year has been the biggest blow to his wallet in his 11 years as a teacher.

“We have clearly felt the impact of inflation this year.”

In July 2022, inflation reached 8.5%, resulting in significant price increases for consumers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Since then, inflation has slowed, but this has left its mark on the economy.

“We have a low inflation rate right now,” said Sherod Waite, president and CEO of Moneywise. “It just doesn't feel like it because prices are still high.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports inflation of 2.9% for July 2024, which Waite said is below the average inflation rate over the past 30 years.

“We're still paying 20 percent more for things over just a four-year period. So things are still more expensive, but they're not getting as expensive as they have over the last 30 years,” Waite said.

Waite adds that while food prices, for example, have gone down, the things teachers normally buy are still expensive, so Mateo has gotten creative.

Mateo says that while the theater program can utilize the lottery budget provided by the school and raise money for its productions through community support.

“Productions are not cheap, and although we want to make productions that are as low-budget as possible, we also want them to be quality productions,” said Mateo.

If you would like to sponsor the theater program, you can reach Mateo on Instagram at @princecrismat.

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