As president of the National Parents Union, Keri Rodrigues is organizing more back-to-school events this year as families deal with surging prices.
“I was sitting here earlier today bracing for impact, trying to go through every single source I can find to try to save money with my five kids,” Rodrigues said. “And I’m no different from any mom across America this year.”
A new study by two progressive think tanks — the Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation — estimates that a typical basket of school supplies costs nearly 8% more this year than last year. It’s an increase of roughly $12 per child. The organizations attribute the price hikes to the United States’ war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Many of the school supplies that parents bought last year actually came into stores in the United States before the tariff rates went up,” said Lindsay Owens, CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative. “This year, not so much.”
The sharpest price increases are on notebooks, notebook paper, index cards and tissues.
“Lunchboxes were up $4 compared to last year,” Owens said. “That’s a story of increased aluminum coming from tariffs or plastic coming from tariffs.”
To offset higher school supply costs, several states are participating in a sales tax holiday, exempting some clothing and school supplies from taxes.
Parent Teacher Association chapters are offering reading and college preparedness programs. PTAs are also keeping parents informed on policy changes affecting local schools.
“A lot of our work is just getting the word out and making sure that people are aware of the issue and looking for broad-scale solutions that can help help people at the local level,” said Bill Datemine, president of the National Teachers Association.
Spectrum News asked the White House what the Trump administration is doing to lower the cost of school supplies. A spokesperson pointed to the tax and policy bill the president signed into law last summer, which kept the tax bills of many Americans from increasing.