What crowdfunding is telling us about the future of Chicago education


Since Chicago Public Schools started using the crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose.org in 2004, educators from 500 schools have collected over $20 million in donations. Most notable is that teachers are not only using the service to cover basic supplies, but are also pitching ideas to support innovative learning approaches such as personalized instruction. According to the company's founder, "We can tap into classroom teachers’ frontline expertise to unleash better targeted, more creative, more innovative, micro solutions than what someone would have come up with from on high."

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