Anyone who went to public schools, had a child in public schools or knows a public schools teacher – and that’s most of us – is aware of the sacrificial giving by teachers.
Sure, we know they spend lots of time off the clock grading papers, planning lessons and preparing their classrooms, but they also use their own money for supplies, classroom assists, and various and sundry personal items they provide students.
No, they don’t have to. No rule is forcing them to do so. But they do so out of a love for students and because they know education is a route to something better for every student.
The need for those items is more keen, it stands to reason, in schools where poverty is greatest. Many of those schools in Hamilton County are in the Opportunity Zone, a group of 12 of the lowest-performing schools in the district where state and local education administrators – and members of the community – are focusing support.
One of the ways in which that support is being realized is a partnership between the school district and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. Teachers in Opportunity Zones schools have been invited to submit projects they want to fund to a crowd-sourced website, DonorsChoose.org, where donations on the website will be matched through a $10,000 matching grant by the Community Foundation.