Column One: Teachers

Teachers in New York State spend an estimated $62 million annually out of their own pockets for "basic teaching supplies,'' New York State United Teachers estimates.

The teachers' union bases that number on the results of an informal, statewide survey of some 800 precollegiate teachers. Nearly 60 percent responded to the questions.

Teachers reported spending an average of $333 a year of their own money, the survey found. The individual amounts ranged from nothing to a high...