Teachers across Mississippi are finding it harder to purchase classroom supplies, even though they received the money earlier than usual.
Each year, teachers in Mississippi are awarded Education Enhancement Funds to purchase classroom supplies, materials and equipment. This year, instead of the customary debit cards teachers receive to purchase instructional supplies in stores or online, the Mississippi Department of Education is providing teachers with funds through ClassWallet, a digital wallet platform designed for instructional supply purchases.
Mississippi law requires districts to give teachers access to their EEF funds by Aug. 1. This year, the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office encouraged MDE to make the funds available by July 15. However, Mississippi Superintendent of Education Lance Evans said that moving the deadline forward necessitated changes to how the funds were allocated.
“The timeline from when MDE receives our state appropriation on July 1 to delivering these funds to teachers is very tight, especially for districts that start school in July,” Evans said in a statement released by MDE on July 13. “MDE made the decision to move to a digital wallet system to give teachers access to their funds as early as possible. We based our decision on input from district business managers and EEF card administrators from across the state.”
Teachers Need Funds Earlier
The Mississippi Legislature appropriated $25 million in EEF teaching supply funds for FY27. The Mississippi Department of Education is allocating $748 to each eligible teacher for the 2026-27 school year. Teachers have from July 15 to April 30 to spend the funds.
“The MDE is grateful to the Legislature for continuing to provide Mississippi teachers with money to purchase materials that directly support student learning,” Evans said.
On June 17, State Auditor Shad White penned a letter to Evans requesting an update to his office’s request to make teacher EEF funds available before teachers began the school year.
“Last year my office, after hearing from teachers across the state, analyzed the state’s Education Enhancement Fund (EEF) procurement cards teachers use to buy classroom supplies,” the letter said. “The result of my staff’s hard work showed that 75% of Mississippi teachers were already in their classrooms by August 1 last year while 76% of students were already in classrooms—all before teachers even had access to dedicated classroom supply funds.”
Evans provided White with the July 15 disbursement date in his June 22 reply. That letter also noted the change to ClassWallet.
White noted MDE’s progress on that front in a July 8 Facebook post but also said that more than 1,200 teachers would already be in their classrooms by that date. In a July 14 post, the auditor’s office said it was encouraged by the initial July 15th date given by MDE but has since received concerns about the ClassWallet program from teachers across the state.
“The new program makes it much more difficult for teachers to spend the funds and it makes it impossible to shop locally, from what we are hearing,” the State Auditor’s Office said in a Facebook post. “Commonly used places to buy supplies like Wal-Mart and Teachers Pay Teachers are not on the approved vendor list, based on what has been reported to us.”
Eighth-grade math teacher Chloe Thompson said that much of the information that they are receiving has not come from their schools or districts.
“I found out on Facebook,” Thompson said.
Thompson said she has reviewed the vendor list, and it does not include several websites or apps that teachers regularly rely on. She also said in the past she has used her EEF debit card to pay for premium versions of online student assessments and test prep. She said she did not see a way to do that in the ClassWallet system, nor were those companies listed as approved vendors.
“The only main store that I guess every teacher could buy something from is Amazon,” Thompson said. “But what if I needed pencils out of Walmart for the next day? I can’t get that. I know a lot of teachers, especially in my district, like to go to local school supply warehouses to buy things in bulk and at a cheaper price. None of those options are there. Even some of the digital platforms that we use, like Teachers Pay Teachers, are not on there.”
Teachers Pay Teachers is listed on the Approved Vendor List for Teacher Reimbursement.
New System Creates Extra Steps for Local Shopping
MDE said that local vendors can participate by completing ClassWallet’s onboarding process, meeting the requirements and being listed on the marketplace. They may also seek approval from MDE to allow teachers to purchase the items with their personal funds and submit those purchases to ClassWallet for reimbursement.
Teachers are generally given a list of items that may be purchased with EEF funds. This year, items must be approved before purchase. Each requested transaction must be approved through the program before it is sent to the vendor. Once approved, the vendor receives authorization to fulfill the order.
“Every single transaction will go through a review process. So it is important to make sure that you’re only requesting to purchase items that would actually be eligible and approved to be purchased through EEF funds,” the ClassWallet teacher training video on the MDE website said. “If you put items in your cart and request to shop for items that you know should not be purchased using EEF funds, that transaction will be rejected, and you’ll get those funds back to your ClassWallet account, but you’ll have to resubmit a transaction without the ineligible items.”
The training alerts teachers that shipping times vary by vendor, but orders are typically shipped within 24 to 48 business hours after approval.
The State Auditor’s Office also said there is a lack of training opportunities for teachers to learn to use ClassWallet. MDE noted that “they are responsible for activating the accounts and ensuring all teachers are trained through a live or recorded webinar.” The agency said teachers could review the recorded webinar available online beginning July 14 or live training sessions held throughout July.
Thompson said this is also a concern for her, as some teachers are not used to using digital wallets for purchases.
“I just happen to be tech-savvy,’ Thompson said. “But it instantly makes me think about the teacher in my hallway who is 60 years old and doesn’t necessarily know how to use a digital wallet or may not use Amazon at all. They may just be comfortable going into their store and swiping their card as they’ve always been used to doing.”
“A lot of them are probably just not going to use it at all and end up spending their own money,” Thompson continued.
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