Happy Hump Day, Shit Givers.
I’m told that some of you are already in the thick of back-to-school chaos, so why not do a back-to-school themed issue?
This week, we’re covering the fight for real school funding, making sure every kid gets the nutrition they need to learn, the state of education at home and globally, and ways to fill education access gaps.
Let’s go.
— Willow
APL Positions covered this week:
🍎 Universal free school meals
📖 Support girls’ secondary education globally
📚 Full Title I funding for low-income schools
Fund it
Public school funding is a patchwork of federal, state, and local dollars, resulting in a huge disparity between schools in wealthy districts vs low-income districts. Instead of funding schools based on need, it’s about which zip codes have more property tax revenue to work with.
Here’s what you can do:
Tell Congress to protect funding for education during the appropriations process (go).
Support the broader bill that funds public education, Title I included, alongside health and labor programs (go).
Donate directly to teachers to fund classroom supplies and tools with DonorsChoose (go).
Join the National Education Association, the union behind much of the lobbying for federal and state school funding, plus better pay and conditions for teachers (go).
Lunch money
You can’t learn on an empty stomach, yet lunch debt is still a real, growing problem in American schools, tracked school by school, family by family, sometimes down to the cent.
Here’s what you can do:
Tell lawmakers to support free meals for all students with the Universal School Meals Program Act (go).
Back a second push for the same goal with the Food Research & Action Center’s Healthy School Meals For All campaign (go).
Donate or volunteer to make sure every kid has food with No Kid Hungry (go).
Class is in session
Whether a kid has access to quality education still depends heavily on where they’re born, and that’s true within the US and even more true globally.
Here’s what you can do:
Run for school board and shape the future of your community with Run For Something (go).
🌎 Support girls’ education worldwide and help amplify their voices with the Malala Fund (go).
🌏 Help 5 million girls in Africa access education by 2030 with CAMFED (go).
🌍 Feed kids daily meals while improving their access to education with the Akshaya Patra Foundation (go).
Close the gap
Funding bills won’t fix everything. Some of the biggest gaps in opportunity show up in who gets access to computer science, engineering, and even a reliable internet connection at school.
Here’s what you can do:
Support tech education and career paths for Black girls with Black Girls Code (go).
Help close the tech gender gap with Girls Who Code (go).
Fund scholarships for underrepresented students in engineering with NACME (go).
Support Indigenous access to STEM through scholarships and careers with AISES (go).
Support Indigenous students across Canada with education funding through Indspire (go).
Help close the digital divide for schools, libraries, and clinics with SHLB (go).
That’s it for this week.
Thank you — as always — for giving a shit.
— Willow
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