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Half of educators expect to purchase food for their students this school year, according to a recent survey from the nation’s second-largest teachers union.

The American Federation of Teachers published the findings Sept. 10 after research company Grow Progress surveyed 705 members about classroom expenses and federal education policy changes. The union also collected personal insights about student hunger, an issue that previous studies have found is prominent at school and could be impacted by impending government cuts to food assistance programs.

“Every year, public school educators dig into their own pockets to help their students get the education they deserve,” union President Randi Weingarten said in a press release. “They pay for books, decorations, paper, pencils and, yes, even food.”

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