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We just created a Giving Page at DonorsChoose.org, to help support low-income classrooms, and we are inviting you to help support it!

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity connecting individuals, like you, to classrooms in need. The average public school teacher spends $500 – $700 on classroom supplies out of his/her own pocket, and students still go without critical supplies they need to learn. Also, the vast majority of states have made spending cuts that hurt families, reduce necessary services, and effect K-12 education (34 states and the District of Columbia).

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

States began cutting their budgets in the spring of 2008, as the recession brought sharply weakened revenues. The cuts have intensified in the face of high and persistent unemployment. Even as the need for state-funded services rose, states cut funding for services by 4.2 percent for fiscal year 2009 and an additional 6.8 percent for 2010, according to estimates by the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). NASBO projects that state spending for 2011 will remain 7.6 percent below 2008 levels.[2] Indeed, the cuts that many states have enacted for FY2011 have been even more severe than those implemented in previous years. For example:

• Arizona eliminated preschool for 4,328 children, funding for schools to provide additional support to disadvantaged children from preschool to third grade, aid to charter schools, and funding for books, computers, and other classroom supplies. The state also halved funding for kindergarten, leaving school districts and parents to shoulder the cost of keeping their children in school beyond a half-day schedule.
• California reduced K-12 aid to local school districts by billions of dollars and cut a variety of programs, including adult literacy instruction and help for high-needs students.
• Colorado has reduced public school spending in FY 2011 by $260 million, nearly a 5 percent decline from the previous year. The cut amounts to more than $400 per student.
• Georgia cut state funding for K-12 education for FY 2011 by $403 million or 5.5 percent relative to FY 2010 levels. The cut has led the state’s board of education to exempt local school districts from class size requirements to reduce costs.
• Hawaii shortened the 2009-10 school year by 17 days and furloughed teachers for those days.
• Illinois cut school education funding by $311 million or 4 percent in its FY 2011 budget relative to FY 2010 levels. Cuts include a significant reduction in funding for student transportation and the elimination of a grant program intended to improve the reading and study skills of at-risk students from kindergarten through the 6th grade.
• Maryland cut professional development for principals and educators, as well as health clinics, gifted and talented summer centers, and math and science initiatives.
• Michigan cut its FY 2010 school aid budget by $382 million, resulting in a $165 per-pupil spending reduction. In FY 2011, Michigan restored $11 in funding per student, so per-pupil funding remains $154 below 2009 levels.
• Over the course of FY10, Mississippi cut by 7.2 percent funding for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, a program established to bring per-pupil K-12 spending up to adequate levels in every district.
• Massachusetts cut state education aid by $115.6 million, or 3 percent in its FY 2011 budget relative to FY 2010 levels. It also made a $4.6 million, or 16 percent cut relative to FY 2010 levels to funding for early intervention services, which help special-needs children develop appropriately and be ready for school.
• Missouri is cutting its funding for K-12 transportation by 46 percent. The cut in funding likely will lead to longer bus rides and the elimination of routes for some of the 565,000 students who rely on the school bus system.
• New Jersey cut funding for afterschool programs aimed to enhance student achievement and keep students safe between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. The cut will likely cause more than 11,000 students to lose access to the programs and 1,100 staff workers to lose their jobs.
• North Carolina cut by 21 percent funding for a program targeted at small schools in low-income areas and with a high need for social workers and nurses. As a result, 20 schools will be left without a social worker or nurse. The state also temporarily eliminated funding for teacher mentoring.
• Rhode Island cut state aid for K-12 education and reduced the number of children who can be served by Head Start and similar services.
• Virginia’s $700 million in cuts for the coming biennium include the state’s share of an array of school district operating and capital expenses and funding for class-size reduction in kindergarten through third grade. In addition, a $500 million reduction in state funding for some 13,000 support staff such as janitors, school nurses, and school psychologists from last year’s budget was made permanent.
• Washington suspended a program to reduce class sizes and provide professional development for teachers; the state also reduced funding for maintaining 4th grade student-to-staff-ratios by $30 million.
• State education grants to school districts and education programs have also been cut in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah.

How can you help?

1. Visit our Giving Page
2. Choose a project to help students in need, with a donation of any size!

Thanks in advance for your support