In his most recent Huffington Post submission, Chris McGowan argued that Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitism should prompt us to take a look at our schools. The best response to Gibson's outburst, he wrote, is "Education, education, education. And the separation of science and religion in the classroom..." (8/4/06)
Mr. McGowan, you've got a way to turn your commendable sentiment into action. So do Huffington Post bloggers and readers. It's called DonorsChoose.org, often referred to as "the eBay of philanthropy."
DonorsChoose was conceived at a Bronx public high school where I taught social studies for five years. In the teachers' lunch room, my colleagues and I often lamented a problem that drained learning from students and creativity from teachers: a lack of funding for essential materials and for the activities that bring subject matter to life. We spent our own money on paper and pens, but mostly we saw our students going without the books, art supplies, field trips, and other resources that they needed to learn.
We responded by creating DonorsChoose.org, a web site where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their classrooms, and individuals can choose which projects they want to fund. Possibilities include:
- Bringing in a Holocaust survivor to speak to a 10th grade social studies class ($120)
- Providing a subscription to Science World to a class of 5th graders ($450)
- Taking students to Washington, D.C. to see the Supreme Court consider a case ($2,000)
Such classroom needs often speak to personal beliefs. When Bush defeated Kerry in the 2004 election, one blogger used DonorsChoose to boost the spirits of her dismayed readers. She found a request for a class set of George Orwell's 1984 and encouraged her readers to fund it. She chose this proposal because it reflected the direction in which she felt the country was headed. But she asked her readers to fund it so that they could do something positive even while grieving the larger state of affairs.
Mr. McGowan, I've created a challenge page at DonorsChoose that is inspired by your post about Mel Gibson. I picked projects that promote tolerance, and projects that promote science. I'm challenging you--and Huffington Post readers--to consider donating to one. If you feel so compelled, go further by creating your own challenge at DonorsChoose and listing the teacher proposals that best match your beliefs.
Do you accept the challenge?