WASHINGTON – Teachers would receive an increased tax deduction for school supply costs under a bill U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Warner, R-Va., plan to introduce Tuesday.

Currently, teachers can claim a $250 tax deduction, which is subtracted from an individual’s total income, creating an adjusted gross taxable income figure. Collins’ bill would increase the annual deduction to $400, starting with tax returns filed next year.

“I found that teachers were spending far more, on average, than $250 to buy classroom supplies,” Collins said in a phone interview Monday. “There were a couple of surveys that suggested many teachers were spending as much as $1,000 for supplies for their class.”

The proposed change is an amendment to a Collins-sponsored tax credit that passed in 2002.

Collins’ amendment, which is supported by the National Education Association, also would enable teachers to deduct unfunded academic workshop expenses.

“My experience from talking to teachers is that professional development money is scarce in most school systems,” Collins said. “It is often the first thing cut when the budget is being reduced.”

Though some school districts pay for professional development, the proposed legislation would enable teachers to include any personal workshop costs in their annual tax deduction.

“There seems to be an unwritten rule that teachers are supposed to take money out of their own pockets to do the job they do,” said Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association. “And they have to be pretty dedicated to do it.”

Though teachers may not spend a significant amount of money on supplies at one time, throughout the year the costs add up, Galgay said.

Teachers nationwide spend, on average, $443 per year, and some spend significantly more, said Randall Moody, chief lobbyist for the National Education Association.

Pam Dahl, a first grade teacher at the Fairmount Elementary School in Bangor, said she spends much more than the current $250 tax deduction for supplies throughout the year.

“Every time we’re going to do a project, like cooking, the money is always out of pocket,” she said. “I also buy extra snacks to keep on hand for the kids, as well as materials I use to set up my classroom and for extra projects.”

Fairmount Elementary provides an annual $450 credit per teacher for needed expenses, such as textbooks, pencils and paper, but those supplies are ordered before the start of a new school year, she said.

“It’s hard to know in May what you’re going to want in October and November,” Dahl said. “If there is something I need throughout the year, I buy it.”