Charles Best Quotes

DonorsChoose enables teachers not just to go public with learning needs in classrooms but also to unleash their imaginations about the best ideas to help students learn.

My colleagues and I were always having the same conversation in the teachers lunchroom about books we wanted our students to read, a field trip we knew would really bring a subject matter to life... And most of us would go into our own pockets to buy just paper and pencils.

At DonorsChoose.org, we've seen what technology can do for a classroom. We make it easy for teachers to request the materials they need most for their classrooms and for donors to make a meaningful contribution to education.

An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a well-rounded education.

Education should be one of our top funding priorities; talking about it does not help the teachers and students who desperately need promises fulfilled.

School district policies and practices have not kept pace with student and teacher needs.

Committed teachers know their students' needs better than anyone in the system. Traditionally, however, teachers have little control over the purchase of student materials.

When I began teaching, my colleagues and I quickly realized that our students didn't have access to the same resources we had growing up. We knew there were supplies and resources that could help our students, but our school district simply couldn't afford them.

Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit to violins for a school recital to microscope slides for a biology class.

DonorsChoose was conceived at a Bronx public high school where I taught social studies for five years. In the teachers' lunch room, my colleagues and I often lamented a problem that drained learning from students and creativity from teachers: a lack of funding for essential materials and for the activities that bring subject matter to life.

Teachers should not need to have to buy books for the kids, or pencils and pens. That's absurd.

No Child Left Behind's fourth-grade gains aren't learning gains, they're testing gains. That's why they don't last. The law is a distraction from things that really count.

We need to increase education budgets.

I do not see any reason why they should not be given the means to give their teachers just as high an education as is secured by attendance at the Protestant schools.

As a former high school teacher, I know that investing in education is one of the most important things we can do, not only for our children, but for the benefit of our whole community.

If I get the chance to be philanthropic, I want to help kids and teachers.

At the federal level, we must help, not hinder, local school boards, parents, teachers and administrators as they make decisions about educating our children.

Students never think it can be the teacher's fault and so I thought I was stupid. I was frustrated and would come home and cry because I couldn't do it. Then we got a new teacher who made math accessible. That made all the difference and I learned that it's how you present it that makes it scary or friendly.

As a former teacher and a mother and grandmother, I know firsthand the importance of a quality education.

We have found that the most successful teachers in low-income communities operate like successful leaders. They establish a vision of where their students will be performing at the end of the year that many believe to be unrealistic.

One of the most powerful tools for empowering individuals and communities is making certain that any individual who wants to receive a quality education can do so.

As they work hard for our children, America's teachers often reach into their own pockets to make sure they have the best classroom supplies. I feel strongly that the federal government should help make up for their personal financial burden.

I remember the mentoring experiences of some teachers that I had, like a second term home room teacher in public school that really was very helpful to me.

An act to provide for the education of the poor, gratis

We are having trouble finding teachers to teach STEM. We also need to make sure schools have the resources. Some communities have multiple computers for each student in their schools. Other schools don't have textbooks, let alone computers.