Back to school season is a usually a time of excitement—racing down school supply aisles, trying to find the perfect backpack or the coolest back-to-school outfit. And that time is just around the corner: Chicago Public Schools will be starting their first day on Sept. 5, and in suburban Illinois schools, classes have already started. But with the start of the school year, it’s not just students who need supplies—it’s classrooms. And when school budgets get slashed, the burden often falls to teachers to supply their classrooms with essentials: paper products, pencils, art supplies, and even cleaning supplies. More and more, that burden is being shared with parents who receive school supply lists for their kids that include cleaning supplies, paper towels and dry erase markers in addition to the usual pens and paste.

Morning Shift talks to Matthew Kurtzman, CEO of Back 2 School Illinois, and Catherine McDonough with Cradles to Crayons.

This segment was produced by Meha Ahmad.