E&I Members: How likely are you to recommend E&I Cooperative Services to a peer?
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that 86% of public schools reported price increases that affected their operating costs during the last school year overall. For some schools, this means looking for opportunities to cut costs; for others, it is far more serious. Declining enrollment and per-student funding are causing a financial crisis for many school districts. In addition, the Trump Administration’s FY 2027 budget proposal includes nearly $8.5 billion in cuts to K-12 education.
School districts must look for savings wherever they can find them to avoid cutting in other areas. While office supplies get less attention than technology investments or large capital projects, cost control is just as important. Managing K-12 office supplies efficiently requires a strategic approach.
A small price increase might not seem like a big deal, but when you multiply it out across different categories and across your school system, these modest price increases can really add up. However, sourcing new options and suppliers takes time, and many business services or finance teams already have a lot on their plates. Going through the traditional bid process requires sourcing, processing, compliance review, and contract negotiations.
For commonly purchased categories like office supplies, it can feel like it’s not worth the effort because there are larger categories to worry about.
Cooperative purchasing helps districts streamline sourcing by providing access to competitively solicited contracts that are already compliant with procurement requirements. With more than 90 years of experience exclusively serving education, E&I Cooperative Services has access to education-specific supply vendors who understand your unique needs.
With E&I, you get:
Because contracts have already undergone competitive solicitation, your purchasing teams can save time, reducing or eliminating:
Whether you are purchasing K-12 office supplies or other items, you maintain your high procurement standards while reducing your workload and saving money in the process.
When you utilize a cooperative contract, you tap into the aggregated purchasing power of multiple school districts. E&I leverages demand across more than 6,500 educational institutions to achieve volume discounts. In many cases, you can use a cooperative agreement with companies you already buy from, including Staples, Grainger, Ward’s Science, School Outfitters, Xerox, and more.
Another advantage of cooperative purchasing is access to suppliers who understand how school districts operate. Suppliers focusing on education understand:
This expertise also saves you time and keeps K-12 office supplies coming on your schedule.
Another practice that can streamline your procurement process and produce savings is consolidating suppliers. K-12 districts often work with hundreds of suppliers. For office supplies alone, there may be dozens of vendors in the mix. When you can find suppliers that can handle multiple categories through a cooperative contract, you can often achieve greater discounts from additional purchasing volume and reduce the administrative workload to manage them.
Approvals, invoicing, contract management, and payments all become easier when you consolidate.
Many E&I contracts include exclusive incentives for K-12 school districts. E&I Cooperative Services also offers patronage refunds based on spending volume. Each year, E&I’s Board of Directors authorizes the cooperative to pay out a percentage of net incomes in the form of patronage, generating additional revenue for member schools.
As the only member-owned, nonprofit cooperative focused exclusively on education, E&I Cooperative Services helps K-12 districts simplify purchasing through competitively solicited contracts and procurement solutions tailored to educational institutions.
With more than 6,500 member institutions and more than 260 ready-to-use cooperative contracts, E&I helps districts access compliant purchasing solutions for operational, classroom, administrative, and technology-related procurement needs. E&I also provides procurement expertise, analytics support, and sourcing efficiencies designed specifically for education environments.
You can get started by finding your E&I rep and scheduling a consultative meeting. We can help you find cost-effective purchasing options that simplify your procurement process and lower your costs.
Explore E&I cooperative contracts today and start saving time and money when purchasing K-12 office supplies.