Classwish.org is finally bringing help to the classroom!

Schools in the US are in terrible shape! Just check these recent news headlines:

• While the recession has put a squeeze on all types of government programs, none has felt its impact more than education — the largest item in most states’ budgets.  Now, many states have nearly exhausted their windfalls from the federal economic stimulus plan, and with falling housing values shrinking property tax revenue — the largest source of public school funding — the question for state and local officials planning budgets for the next school year is: Will it be bad — or horribly bad?
• Nearly 900 teachers and administrators would lose their jobs in the San Francisco Unified School District, which must cut $113 million over the next two years.
• California school districts laid off 22,000 teachers and administrators, nearly 7 percent of the total.
• Atlanta 2010-11 budget will be almost 11 percent below its level of seven years ago.
• Illinois schools face budget cuts as high as 17 percent to make up a $1.3 billion education deficit.
• NYC faces the prospect of laying off as many as 8,500 teachers — or nearly 11 percent of its total.

This is bad. This is really bad. And the worst thing about it is that it is the future of the youngest that is at stake. It has long been not only my belief but my strong commitment that equal chances should be a benchmark of a true democratic system, a truly progressive society. While on a global scale this merely looks like a distant dream, one would think in developed economies, in particular the strongest national economy on this planet this would be different – but it is not!

It is unbearable that teachers have to sell advertisements on their test papers just to be able to purchase paper to print test on (!!).

• Americans donate $43 billion a year to education, but it all goes to higher ed, rather than K-12 (I bet you hear from your college every year, but have never heard from your former elementary school, which needs the money much more).
• People spend $3.7 billion a year of school fundraising products such as cookie dough and wrapping paper, but less than half that money that actually goes to the school.

To change this, I will consult the recently launched nonprofit website, http://ClassWish.org, as a Director of Business Development & Partnerships to address this devastating shortage of funding for school supplies and equipment.

In short, teachers create wish lists.  Parents, alumni, businesses and others who care about schools see exactly what’s needed and how their tax-deductible contributions can help. The result? Teachers and schools get the support they need. Parents and communities are engaged in supporting schools and funding the things they care most about. And everyone is united in helping our children perform at their best.

Please help spread the word. Join our site, tell your teachers and their schools to sign up and help teachers gain funds to receive the items on their wish list. Once there are enough credits available, teachers can have items delivered directly to the classroom. We already offer tens of thousands of items.  We are currently setting up partnerships with a wide range of vendors, so that we will soon have everything any classroom or school could need, from books, to computers, to playground equipment. Check out Diane Yacenda’s page to see it working:

If you want to get even more involved, check out our current openings! There’s more BizDev power needed and we are also looking for a Social Media specialist to help us manage our social media strategy.

Check us out on Titter: @classwish, on Facebook ! Our blog will be online really soon. For those of you that need resources: here they are