So I was thinking...actually let's skip all the thinking, and just say that I'm on a balance-restoring campaign of late. One of the things I would like to do this month is to sponsor a project at Donors Choose.
So (sorry, Miss M.), if you've been itching to send me a present this month for no particular reason I'll mention here at all, or if you were wondering what to do with your five bucks in February, or if you have any other reason you're looking to throw some money around, I would think it would be great if you'd consider helping some fourth graders buy a map. When you read through the proposals, there are a lot of worthy projects and dire needs, but this one really got to me for some reason. They DON'T have a MAP. This seems so contrary to the very idea of an elementary-school classroom I don't know where to turn. How can...? What the...? What are we supposed to be TEACHING kids, anyway? And then we are all suprised when college students can't find England. RAAAAAH!
If you know me in real life, you can search for my real-life name and donate through my gift registry and I will get a card or something, or you can donate through the link above and I will have the pleasure of watching the counter go up through agents unknown, or you can not donate anything at all and still be the fine, lovely person you were before. I will now return you to your regularly scheduled non-solicitation.
Posted by hilatron at February 1, 2005 03:06 PMOK, they got me. I had to give these guys some money too: http://www.donorschoose.org/locale0/donors.php?action=view_proposal&id=15191
Posted by: tree at February 1, 2005 07:27 PMWoo tree! Thanks!
Posted by: Hilatron at February 1, 2005 10:18 PMWhat a great idea for getting the 5$Revolution off the ground, teaching children there are actually other countries in the world!! Who knows, maybe with people in them. You go girl.
Posted by: grizzledbear at February 1, 2005 10:23 PMIt was, alas, inevitable that this project and I would sooner or later fall afoul of one another.
I was hoping for later.
Let me begin this rant by stating that I heartily support fourth-graders having maps. Also paper, pencils, textbooks written accurately and completely and within the last 5 years, computers, a library, art supplies, and teachers who love them to bits and are energetic and crafty and smart and ethical on their behalf.
But.
This is the USofA, where schools are government-funded, and meant from the get-go to be government-funded.
Why are we (that's the corporate "we," extending well beyond the few respondents here) letting the governmental entity responsible for educating these particular fourth-graders off the hook?
Educating 4th-graders (also graders in K-3 and 5-12) is the duty and obligation of the school district in which they live. Taxes are collected and disbursed for this purpose.
Something is very wrong here, and it should not be fixed, IMNSHO, through private donations. It should be fixed by shaming the taxpayers (probably especially the corporate ones) of that district into ponying up for their kids.
Posted by: Doombot at February 4, 2005 06:00 PMOK, so I dithered and dallied for the first few months of the 5$ Buck Revolution, but when this opportunity presented itself, I took all my accumulated 5-buck-a-month wealth and put it into this project. Now I've gone and done it again, mortgaged the next few months to bring it closer to being fully funded.
And why? Well for one thing, I believe the flaming gaping asshole in the Oval Office is the most successful liar of the past century only because a large percentage of Americans lack the capacity to be critical of information, and are easily distracted by flag-waving and finger-pointing. It's probably too late for many adults who voted for the FGA's (the un-rich ones anyway, the smart rich probably voted for them), but children might yet learn to at least ask some questions and reflect on the strange behavior of politicians. So any little thing we can contribute toward education mmight just open the mind of a child a little wider.
And for another thing, having cooled off a little since November, I think whatever progress liberals and moderates can make in years to come will come in many small steps. Big speeches, extravaganzas, high-minded pronouncements, and big promises ain't gonna do it. Five bucks a month just might. It's up to us, winning questioners one by one.
So, if you find some agreement with this long-winded comment, consider funding this project, and then we'll find another next small step to take.
Posted by: grizzledbear at February 22, 2005 11:33 PM