For kids, back-to-school season means a fresh start and all things new: new teachers, new classrooms, new schedule, new subjects to learn. But for many teachers, it means grappling with a familiar problem: scant resources to supply their classroom and provide their students what they need in order to learn.
“Never underestimate a public school teacher,” Tim Walz said when he accepted the vice presidential nomination; research shows that teachers regularly go beyond the call of duty when it comes to making sure their students have what they need to learn, routinely spending their own money to cover shortages in their classrooms. Teachers report spending an average of $610 out of pocket for school supplies, with educators of color and those working at high-needs schools spending $15 to $65 more. The Association of American Educators put the number slightly higher —$673 — in a survey of teachers conducted last year, adding that “only 7% of survey respondents felt their students have what they need for academic success without out-of-pocket purchases.”
Nonprofit funding platform DonorsChoose aims to ease some of these financial burdens and help teachers provide what their students need. DonorsChoose posts teachers’ requests for basic classroom supplies, class special projects and support for field trips. Then it vets each request and donors can choose to fund all or part of teachers’ requests.
Created in 2000 by Charles Best, a high school teacher in the Bronx, DonorsChoose has raised more than $1.68 billion since it was founded, supporting over 907,000 teachers and 3 million projects. Many individual donors respond to requests on the platform, but DonorsChoose also relies on funding from private foundations and corporate philanthropies, as well as several state departments of education. According to the organization’s 2023 annual report, “corporate, foundation and state partners gave $81 million to projects this year, supporting 77% of all funded projects.”
The back-to-school season is one of DonorsChoose’s busiest times of year.
“It’s when education is on the minds of so many people across the country,” said Katie Bisbee, chief revenue and marketing officer at DonorsChoose. “It’s a great catalyzing force to not only encourage people to donate, but to encourage teachers; now is the moment to post your classroom projects. At this point, 88% of public schools have teachers that are using our site. I think that partners see DonorsChoose as a way to reach America’s teachers directly.”
Matches, music and STEM
While much of DonorsChoose’s funding channels support from small donors, larger funders are stepping up to support DonorsChoose during the current back-to-school season. The Gates Foundation, for example, has been a long-time DonorsChoose supporter. Beginning in 2014, the foundation has provided an annual donation to kick off the back-to-school season. This year, Gates provided a $2 million match donation; funds to any DonorsChoose project will be matched until the funds run out. Bill Gates himself thanked donors to the back-to-school campaign on LinkedIn.
Education is also a priority for the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation, another DonorsChoose supporter. In August, the “Big Bang Theory” creator’s philanthropy provided $500,000 in music resources for Equity Focus Schools, a DonorsChoose designation for schools that have a student body that is at least 50% BIPOC and where at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
United Airlines is providing a $1.25 million match that will triple donations to DonorsChoose aviation projects and double donations to STEM projects in Equity Focus Schools in areas where the airline’s employees are located. “[United]’s mission is to inspire the future workforce by giving students the resources that can teach them and inspire them to become engineers and aviators,” Bisbee said.
To celebrate its 100th anniversary, corporate funder Kleenex will provide one school with $100,000 for classroom resources through DonorsChoose, and $4,000 each in DonorsChoose credit to 100 additional schools. Kleenex is partnering with Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of George W. Bush, on the initiative.
Another DonorsChoose funder is Panda Cares, the philanthropic arm of Panda Restaurant Group, which teams up with DonorsChoose to support teachers in the areas where it operates. Other backers include Steph and Ayesha Curry’s Eat.Learn.Play and the Paul E. Singer Foundation, as well as corporate giants including Samsung and 3M, according to the DonorsChoose 2023 annual report.
Teachers know what their students need, and tracking their requests on DonorsChoose provides a map of the challenges young people face today. Many teachers request basic classroom supplies — from pencils to ed tech equipment — but more than half say they need warm clothing, toothpaste and other hygiene products, according to the DonorsChoose annual survey of educators who use the site.
Since 2020, DonorsChoose has included a Warmth, Care & Hunger category on its website, and it has seen a 110% increase in these requests since then. To take just one example, Ms. Hines, a teacher in Staten Island, requested hygiene supplies and winter clothes for her students and their siblings. “Right now, we are in need of underclothing like underwear, undershirts and socks to replenish missing sizes,” she wrote in a post seeking $604; her request is now fully funded.
Student mental health is also a concern for many teachers, the survey found, which is no surprise, given the high number of young people experiencing mental health problems today. DonorsChoose has seen an increase in requests for items teachers can use to support student mental health. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in teachers requesting social-emotional learning resources,” Bisbee said. “A lot of teachers are also creating calming or cozy corners in their classrooms, with bean bag chairs, books and journals, and cozy lighting.”
But given the levels of distress many students are experiencing, some teachers, like a high school teacher from New York, want more help. Responding to the DonorsChoose survey, the teacher said, “[We need] training and professional development that help teachers to manage classroom stress, and implement strategies to support students’ wellbeing; easier access to school psychologists and social workers who can provide additional support and intervention; a possible peer-support program to foster connections and provide additional sources of support.”
Supplying classrooms, boosting morale
Today, as schools struggle to recover post-pandemic, already slim school budgets will soon be chopped further at this month’s end of federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds, a COVID-era provision.
As a country, we clearly need to do a better job supporting our schools and educating our children. This also means fairly compensating our educators. The DonorsChoose survey found that 49% of teachers report working at least one alternate job to supplement their teaching salary.
There’s a lot wrong with that picture, and private philanthropy shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for inadequate public funding for schools. At the same time, teachers’ testimonials provided to DonorsChoose show that the kindness of strangers — from small donors and large philanthropies alike — doesn’t just provide practical help, but a morale boost, as well. Ms. De La Rosa, a teacher in Tennessee, provided this testimonial to DonorsChoose: ”Every single time I get a donation, it feels like a little tiny cheering squad telling me that what I do is important and people are happy to support both my students and myself.”
