Philly Teacher Resorts to Crowdfunding to Buy Students History Books

Mark Hoey is a longtime teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and currently the AP History teacher and Social Studies Department Chair at the Philadelphia High School for Girls aka Girls High. And given the grim state of the financial situation in the Philadelphia schools, he is taking matters into his own hands.

Earlier this week, Hoey launched a crowdfunding campaign via DonorsChoose.org to buy books for the 53 young ladies in his AP US History class. Actually, Hoey is personally footing the bill for five of the books, which are $41.23 each on Amazon (plus fees), and he’s looking to the generosity of others to buy the other 48.

According to Hoey’s explanation on the site, the AP course was just changed significantly, so his kids need the new edition of U.S. History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination to go along with it.

“The level of commitment they show to their studies is inspiring,” he writes. “53 students have signed up for AP US History this year in order to take a rigorous path through high school. … They take these exams seriously and look to gain college credit while in high school.”

And Hoey is by no means the only Philadelphia teacher looking for money for books and supplies for his students. Just check out this list.

As of Friday afternoon, Hoey still had $1,359 to go. We just took up a little collection here at Philadelphia magazine (where it seems that most of the staff is still on summer hours, ahem) and are making a donation of at least $200 by the end of the day. Who else is in?

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