Philadelphia public and charter schools have historically been underfunded, leaving teachers with fewer avenues every year to acquire the necessary resources for their students.

So in this region as well as across the country, teachers are finding new ways to get more support. One of them is an online platform called DonorsChoose.

Founded in 2000 by a teacher in the Bronx, DonorsChoose allows educators to crowdfund and receive donations for their classrooms that may not be purchased by the school. With a mission of empowering educators and supporting students, its goal is to combat disparities in school funding. They ship materials directly to classrooms after the donations have been secured, making it an effective way for community members to help teachers within their classrooms.

That also means educators can minimize the amount of money they spend out-of-pocket to supply their classrooms. Many teachers otherwise spend hundreds of dollars or more per school year.

According to Jill DeLorean, a special education case manager at Henry H. Houston Elementary School in Mt. Airy, DonorsChoose lightens her load.

“Last year I needed pull-ups, wipes and gloves,” she said. “You know, all these materials that our school might not have, but DonorsChoose just helps. It’s really an amazing resource.”

Some 91 percent of U.S. public schools have posted projects on the site, according to DonorsChoose, which says it has provided almost $2 billion in funding from almost seven million individual donors, as well as dozens of corporations and foundations.

“Honestly, I feel like it should be used more,” DeLorean said. “Literally, in these schools with access to it, yeah, everybody should be using it.”

DonorsChoose surveyed public school teachers during the 2025-2026 academic year, and found that of the 2,500 public school teachers that used the website, 60% believed that they didn’t have the resources necessary to prepare students for their future careers.

According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Pennsylvania has historically been a state of underfunding and resource redlining when it comes to major-minority school districts.

“We don’t have air conditioning,” said Elise Figarotta, an autistic support teacher for grades 6 to 8 at Houston. “I got an industrial fan for my room. I was able to get cartridges for my printer. I was able to get a lot of cleaning supplies.”

Alice Goodman, a school-based teaching lead at Jenks Academy for the Arts and Sciences in Chestnut Hill, says the district doesn’t understand that supplies that are lost or damaged must be replaced by the teachers.

“It’s not even like things you would think of,” Goodman said. “Even just like snacks for kids is a lot.”

She added: “Calculators, like anything, you know, unfortunately, there’s just not money in the school budgets anymore, just to even help sustain the curriculum.”

The DonorsChoose eligibilty rule is simple: “If someone is employed full-time in a U.S. public or public charter school, and they work directly with students at least 75% of the time, then they’re likely eligible to sign up,” according to a statement from the organization.

Teachers then verify their employment and send requests for classroom projects or basic resources like pencils, paper, and even wipes for cleaning tables.

“Resources that a teacher gets funded through DonorsChoose are property of the school for which they were initially requested,” the site states, “so that future students at the school can continue to benefit.”