Department of Education

Donate surplus government property to schools

Agencies throw away, recycle, and otherwise surplus supplies that schools would be happy to receive. One example is the hundreds or thousands of three-ring binders that many contracting offices receive each year from contractors competing for contracts. These binders could be donated to schools, reducing the schools' costs for this supply. Another example is contractor-acquired property that must be disposed of at the end of a contract. One year, a contractor asked what to do with the pallet of baby dolls they had left over from performance of a contract that included interviewing small children. If there was a standard mechanism in place to donate this type of property, these dolls could have more easily made it to a preschool or head start program, saving money and improving students' lives.



66 votes
Idea No. 226