Teaching Profession

Stephen Colbert Helps Fund Every DonorsChoose Project in South Carolina

By Ross Brenneman — May 07, 2015 1 min read
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All South Carolina teachers currently seeking money through DonorsChoose.org received a major surprise today, when they learned that comedian Stephen Colbert will be helping fund all of their open requests.

Colbert left his Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report,” in December, in preparation to take over “Late Show” from David Letterman. As part of that transition, the late-night host sold off the set in his studio, and the money from that, along with matching funds from the Morgridge Family Foundation and technology distribution company ScanSource, will be used to fund nearly 1,000 projects at more than 375 schools, per Greenville News.

“There are going to be some happy, happy teachers across the state,” state superintendent Molly Spearman told the Greenville News. “This is Teacher Appreciation Week, so what a great way to say ‘thank you teachers for what you’re doing every day.’”

South Carolina ranks 34th in per-pupil funding, according to the most recent U.S. census.

Colbert grew up in South Carolina, and has long been an advocate of DonorsChoose.org, the crowdfunding site for school projects that started in 2000. In 2010, for example, he helped the site raise several hundred thousand dollars as part of his and Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Keep Fear Alive:

The Colbert Report

Nationally, more than 233,373 teachers have had projects funded through the site.

Image credit: Jason DeCrow/AP-File


More on late-night hosts getting involved in education:

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.