makeshiftmind

If you don’t watch the Colbert Report, you should.

A few days ago, Mr. Colbert interviewed Craig of Craig’s List, a simple site for posting all manner of classifieds. While the history around Craig’s List was interesting in and of itself, Craig mentioned that he is running a side project called Donors Choose, where teachers around the United States can request donations for projects or activities they want to do in the classroom. Donors can browse the donation requests and choose the projects they wish to donate to. Presently, the website is reporting the following numbers:

$14,186,873 has been donated to 709,997 students in need, as of October 29, 2007!

Now, here are the important points to note: 1) the site is run by a wealthy entrepreneur; 2) the site would likely not exist if its owner was not wealthy; 3) the site is a free-market solution that addresses educational needs specifically — it doesn’t compel anyone to surrender their money by force (which is what laws, by definition, do); and 4) the site is generating a truckload of revenue.

So the next time someone whines to you about the lack of government funding in education, encourage them to make a lot of money and donate it to the teacher of their choice.

The free market is about being part of the solution, not part of the problem.