Editorials

Providing the means for instructional ends

Dec 6, 2007 10:30 AM

Yes, it would be wonderful if schools were so well-funded that there was money available for every instructional project in every classroom — and that certainly should be a goal for all of us who believe in public education — but let’s face it, nirvana is not quite here yet.

But DonorsChoose.org is.

As our article on page 22 explains, this Web site, the brainchild of a former New York City teacher, is a way for educators to find funds for all kinds of projects, large and small. It provides a link for every idea to a possible donor, would-be philanthropists who may not have the resources of the Ford Foundation but have the same motivation. And, voilá, the idea becomes a reality.

Since the inception of DonorsChoose.org seven years ago, almost 7,000 New York City educators have seen their proposals turn into fact. DonorsChoose.org is now in all 50 states, it has provided more than $15.6 million to nearly 33,000 teachers for 35,743 projects. But the greatest beneficiaries have been the nearly 800,000 students for whom those projects were developed.

Charles Best, the founder of DonorsChoose.org, got the idea when he was a social studies teacher at the Wings Academy in the Bronx. He devised this brilliant way for people of limited means and large hearts to help educators help students when school systems come up short.

And in the best kind of ironic twist, as Nadine Reis, chapter leader at PS 1 in Brooklyn, pointed out, when donors wonder why they are being asked to fund projects that the government ought to be funding it “creates advocates for public education.”

So, not only is DonorsChoose.org providing those much-needed funds but it is generating public support for enough education aid so that DonorsChoose.org would no longer be necessary.