TenDollarInitiative.org = Equity in Education

When education no longer serves as the great equalizer, deterioration of the quality of citizens we produce follows soon after. We see people making poor choices not only in day-to-day issues such as properly segregating trash, but also in more serious instances where many recklessly spend tax money by electing officials who squander all the trust and resources given to them by their constituents. Education needs to bring back equity across social classes. More so, it must use equity to dissolve road blocks for students who are marginalized and have limited access to opportunities that can ultimately lead to successful and productive lives.

Zero in on students who have less. This is basic equity. How we apply it results to various methods and strategies. For example, a teacher can look into a curriculum and make sure that it enables students to meet their learning objectives no matter what their weaknesses are. And because I am a teacher myself I can say that teachers can only do so much. Often, our desire to push our students to beat the odds is matched with loads of limitations on budget, logistics, training, parent involvement, familiarity with our students' background just to name a few. Yet, at the end of the day we ask ourselves, "Have we served our students well?" I often shudder thinking of my own answer.

The Ten Dollar Initiative attempts to zero in on students who have less. I maybe an English teacher who wants to expose my students to Shakespearean plays but where do I get the money and resources for this project? Or maybe I want to engage my students in environmental investigations because a friend of mine teaching in a prestigious high school is able to expose his students to multi-level environmental impact assessment tools that gauge water and air pollution. But where do I begin to gather resources and get these materials? As teachers we know that learning activities are critical areas for knowledge building, and yet if we invest in them they become authentic opportunities of unleashing our students' ability to learn beyond their expectations. This to me is what Ten Dollar Initiative is trying to help donors and teachers of marginalized students invest in. If I can provide my students the same quality of Shakespearean exposure, as would any student get from any prestigious and private high school, then I can safely say that I am able to bring equity into my class.

Equity outside the classroom is difficult and complicated. Often this issue is left for the economists, policymakers and other advocates to figure out. However, it seems that equity inside the classroom is something which is more viable because students can see and feel how it is to receive quality instruction regardless of limitations unfairly imposed on them by an unfair societal structure. The Ten Dollar Initiative is an effort rooted in the ordinary life because the switch it demands is basic yet it requires some effort to go on line and donate at least $10.00 every week, or every month. Gather all those efforts plus the teacher's we all get equity inside the classroom!


Just as the Three Giants: Donor Choose, Kiva.Org, and Global Giving have affirmed, there is hardly any reason not to try out the Ten Dollar Initiative. If we globally become successful in establishing equity inside the classroom, we then create a dent in the lives of those students who most need us. And if we are able to form them well inside the classroom, we can absolutely hope that more of our students will make choices that will positively benefit them and others.