Lydia regularly spends time at the flea market.

This is where you can find the best children's books and games, writes the elementary school teacher from Baden-Württemberg.

What is a hobby or a nice pastime for others is now part of everyday working life for them.

Because the third-year teacher does not buy for her own children, but for her school class.

The elementary school teacher Mira from Düsseldorf feels the same way.

She bought old shelves for her classroom on a used platform last year.

"Simple things like trash cans are often missing," she says.

"Sometimes I'm standing in the store and I'm like, 'Oh, what the heck.'

And take the things with you.”

Many teachers in Germany feel the same way as the two teachers, especially at primary schools.

Many teachers turn to Caroline von St. Ange with their problems.

The educational influencer offers tips and tricks for everyday teaching on Instagram.

She launched an appeal for the FAS.

Dozens of teachers signed up.

They sometimes report four-digit sums that they spend on materials every school year.

Teacher Celia Thieme from Saxony-Anhalt does the math: From May to December 2021 alone, she spent almost 1,250 euros on the school.

For books, workbooks, posters, pens, brooms, picture frames and much more.

Others report similar amounts.

Only the minimum equipment is not bought by yourself

Teachers often shop for their classes.

Added to this are the costs for printers, cartridges and tablets that they need for their work at home.

In some schools the teachers act almost like a purchasing department.

A teacher from Saxony-Anhalt writes that there is no basic set of materials at her school that she can use: "If the commitment and willingness of us teachers to invest for ourselves were not so great, the school living space would be over a bit sad."

Anything that goes beyond the minimum equipment such as blackboard, chalk and staples is often provided by the children themselves.

A teacher from Bavaria writes that she would not have passed her teaching exam if she had only had the materials provided by the school.

The educational influencer Caroline von St. Ange is mainly followed by young teachers on Instagram.

"The fact that our schools are equipped like this makes me sad," she says.

When a teacher enters a school today, it usually looks like it did when they were at school.

"It makes me angry and stunned." The teachers who follow her are motivated and ready to change something.

Teachers fail because of their own claims

In particular, teachers who have just completed their legal clerkship fail because of their own aspirations.

You want to create a good learning environment for the students.

They report that this is not possible without their own expenditure.

The fact that they can deduct the expenses from their taxes is only a small consolation for many.

Older colleagues don't always do things differently, but many can fall back on material that they have accumulated over the years.