I’ve also seen US teachers spending hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to stock classrooms.
I spent a lot of time in European schools and I’ve never heard of teachers having to stock their own classrooms or fundraise for things like playgrounds, etc.
I know that you probably get a tax deduction for it, but stories like these are still just crazy to me. These things should be taken care of by the school district, not the individual teachers. Wow.