Teacher Wish Lists Make Giving Easy (NAPSAj—Under President Bush, the Department of Eduecation’s budget was recently approved at $44.6 billion. The budget reflects an 11.5 percent increase in funds for our schools. While the budget increase is a start, this fall schools and teachers still need to raise funds for schoal supplies for their classroams— from books and videos to art supplies and computer equipment. Many teachers do not receive adequate funding to purchase even the most basic classroom supplies. In fact, according to a recent survey, of nearly 1,000 schools, 48 percent of teachers spend more than $106 oftheir own money on classroom supplies. The survey found that teachers need resource materials such as books, videos and magazines followed by classroom equipment such as computers, projectors and cameras. What may surprise many, however, is that almost a third of teachers spend their own money on the most basic classroom materials such as staplers, tissues, pencils and erasers. An increasingly popular solution te fill classroom needs is a school “Wish List” distributed to school families. Wish Lists let concerned families and friends get involved in providing muchneeded teaching tools and classroom equipment. Of those surveyed, 22 percent of schaols currently have some type of Wish List, the primary reason being to supply fundamental materials for daily teaching. This fall, Schoolpop, the leading fundraising organization for K-12 schools is making it even easier for teachers to create Wish Lists and receive their requested items. Any participating school can create a Wish List on the Schockpop Web site. When friends “Many parents Hike to know what the money they contribute to their school is used for. By buying from a school Wish List, they know it’s going right inte the classroom,” according to one school supporter. and families visit the school’s Wish List they can instantly-— with the click of a button—purchase any Wish List items and have them delivered directly to the school. Currently, more than 20,000 schools raise money through Schoolpop by encouraging their supporters to shop at more than 300 participating online, store and catalog merchants. Wish List purchases made through Schoolpop not only benefit the teacher, but contribute dollars back to the school at no additional cast te the shopper or to the school. Consider this, during March 2001, U.S. consumers spent $3.5 billion dollars online. If half of those purchases were made through school fundraising sites, with an average rebate of six per- cent, approximately $105 million could have been given back to schools. To learn more about School Wish Lists, including how to participate, visit www.schcoalpop.com or call tol free 1-877-456-1032.
