School supplies cost more under Trump tariffs, say NH teachers, parents and Dem leaders

By Paula Tracy, InDepthNH.org

As parents, students and teachers prepare for the upcoming school year, the cost of everything from pencils to headphones has gone up under President Donald Trump and Democrats are blaming Republicans for the increases in costs.

National Education Association-NH President Megan Tuttle, state Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, and the New Hampshire Senior Director for MomsRising, MacKenzie Nicholson, hosted a press call where they pointed the finger Tuesday at President Trump’s tariff war, which they say Republican Senate candidates Scott Brown and Dan Innis endorse.

Innis, a state senator from Bradford and former Massachusetts U.S. Senator Brown of Rye are running in a primary to replace retiring U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

Running on the Democratic side is District 1 Congressman Chris Pappas, D-NH.

According to industry reports, school supplies have increased nationally 12 to 15 percent from last year.

Tuttle, who was in Arizona dropping off a child at college, said the cost of supplies there are similar to those in New Hampshire and have gone up.

She said nationally teachers spend $445 on supplies and snacks to help bolster their students’ needs.

The press call was set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Committee and Fenton took particular aim at Brown and Innis.

“These added costs all stem from the tariff tax on families on caregivers, educators and both Scott Brown and Dan Innis have embraced this,” he said.

Brown has called it a “little bit of short-term pain,” Fenton said and that “it is ultimately going to work out.”

He added Innis has gone even further and called Trump’s tariffs “brilliant” and added that they are working.

Fenton said not only are the two out of touch with realities of Granite Staters “but willing to back damaging policies if it keeps them in Donald Trump’s good graces.”

As Granite Staters, he said, “we deserve candidates willing to fight for us.”

Neither Innis nor Brown immediately replied to requests for comment but this story will be updated if they respond.

The group pointed to national data which showed how tariffs are impacting parents, teachers, and other educators as they prepare for school:

– Roughly 20 percent of back-to-school shoppers said buying supplies for the new year is straining their budgets, according to a new report by Bankrate.

– According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index, pencils and backpacks are up 2.9 percent and 4.1 percent year-over-year since 2024, respectively.

– Prices of three popular stainless-steel water bottles by Hydro Flask, Stanley, and Owala are increasing at Amazon and Walmart, likely due to the 25 percent tariff on global steel.

For Nicholson, of MomsRising, parents like her are calling this “Trumpflation.” She said congressional acts are unfair to families, “while giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. For families like mine who are already struggling to keep up with the rising costs of groceries, utility care, child care, health care and back to school price hikes, it is making it even harder for us to make ends meet and that is just not fair.”

Nicholson said no one wants to deny their children supplies that will help them feel like they are getting off to the right start this school year “but that’s the reality for too many Granite State families because Donald Trump is doubling down on costly trade wars and candidates like Scott Brown and Dan Innis are cheering him on.”

And they said it will only get worse next year when the true impacts of the tariff wars sink in.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.