In highlighting the creativity that is needed for problem solving, Albert Einstein said,

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

The group that brings you the following has been solving dire situations for corporations across the globe for 40 years. But we are also parents. So now, as parents and as people who were blessed with a gift of creatively solving what to others often seems to be unsolvable, we are here to show you that unsolvable is never the case. We come simply presenting a well-sought solution for our children that gets us out of this inept design of education/tuition debt and lack of funding as witnessed in all schools cross America. And understand me when I say, it just ain't that complicated folks.

“Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and make a trail” ~ RWE

That’s right Waldo. There is ALWAYS an answer, a solution. Most of the time too, that answer is usually pretty simple, though often there is no path leading to it.

Case in point. Lauren Powell’s mom’s creative problem-solving skills demonstrate this perfectly. Mrs. Powell was left with four small children when her military-pilot husband tragically died in a flying accident. So what did Mrs. P. do to earn a living with four small kids under the age of six to take care of? Why, she started a daycare of course. This enabled her to take care of her own young children while getting paid to take care of other people's kids as well. She simply maximized the resources that were before her, and made her own trail. Genius.

The Good Idee Group loves genius. More about the GIG in a minute.

So yep, coming up with creative solutions is usually, believe it or not, not rocket surgery.

So too then, the solution to the enormous financial challenge of properly funding every need in every school across America is actually a fairly simple one. The answer has always been there, right there, under our very nose, or is it noses?

Mrs. P. would have loved what you are about to discover.

“If each of us possessed such a vision, to where we loved each other’s children with that same fervent love that we have for our own, our resolve to help them all would be overwhelming. That resolve would be unstoppable. ” ~ RMJ

What you are about to read is the solution that we can apply to that resolve. The genius of this very simple solution is that every aspect of it unites people of every financial class, every political opinion, of every race, and of every culture in such a way that it should offend no one. There is nothing divisive about MY. It empowers us all, and it provides for all our children, equally so. MY puts no one group in front of the other. It does not have to for those groups that are so more destitute, for that culture to surge forward. MY would allow us to help them, while helping our own culture. But conversely, the beautiful irony is that it would allow them to help our children while helping their own. This is what will be that cool design of irony which slowly change the traditional, negative mind-sets and negative opinions of those who feel threatened by other cultures. It would turn those mind-sets organically, without red-flagging their insecurities that there somehow must underlie a hidden agenda by those who bring MY forward. There isn't. The MY Plan shows us just how equal we all actually are. Some of us have just yet to discover that.

Find good, or create it. ~ The Good Idee Group

15 years ago, we put what many perceive as possibly our country’s most unsolvable dilemma, as a challenge to some of the most creative, problem-solving minds on the planet. We asked a private group, internally known as the Good Idee Group, the GIG, one simple question.

“Is there a way, an unthought of possibility, that could dependably and perpetually, day-in and day-out, generate the mega dollars that are needed for all the school needs? And if so, could these dollars also pay for all future college tuitions for each and every child that wishes to gain a higher education degree, while also paying off the current 1.7B dollar national tuition debt?

Or, will we forever simply be completely reliant upon our insufficient tax dollars and the good will of philanthropists? Neither of which, by the way, can infuse the dollars that are needed into every single school in America to eradicate the problems below.”

15 years later, we got our answer, and, well, Wow.

It seems people often have the attention span of a gnat these days though.

So, keeping in mind the gnat thing... Give the solution that the MY Plan offers exactly a 1 minute:45 seconds read; and see if the switch is flipped. That’s right; we timed it. In that amount of time, you should be all in.

Ready?

Go!

in 2023, Philanthropists donated 60 BILLION dollars to higher education.

60 BILLION. Those dollars are desperately needed for sure. The problem however, is that none of those dollars are solving the financial problems in K-12 schools and beyond. Those dollars are also not paying off our 1.74 TRILLION dollar national tuition debt. In 2023, that money was put into schools, did good, but was consumed, and the problems still remain, and continue to grow. It’s like constantly bailing water out of a leaking boat, when what you should do is fix the leak.

The MY Plan fixes the leaks.

- More teachers quit the teaching field in 2019 than any year previously. That record was broken in 2021, again in 2022, and once again in 2023.

- According to the latest estimates, as many as 13 million children in the United States live in "food insecure" homes. Lack of food in a home = lack of nutrition in a body = lack of proper brain&body development needed for learning. The MY Plan affords all kids in all schools a nutritional breakfast, lunch, and good meal before leaving school for those that may not get another nutritious meal until school the next day.

- Quality, in-school, mental health care offered by professional mental health specialists for young, developing, anxiety ridden, often troubled young minds is completely unaffordable; yet suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death of school aged kids.

- Sandy Hook, Uvalde, the list goes on and on. There have been 404 shootings since Columbine in K-12 schools. In-school mental health care could be-should be the norm in every school across America. In 2012, 20-1st graders and 6 teachers were murdered at Sandy Hook by a very troubled former student who could have been easily red-flagged years before and helped or removed, had in-school quality mental care and professionals been in place.

Those 20 children should be graduating high school, right now, in 2024.

- Infants whose mothers received less than 12 years of education are, in some states, more than twice as likely to die as those born to college educated mothers, a new study finds.

https://journalistsresource.org/education/maternal-education-infant-mortality/

“If you ever want to do something nice for me, do something for my child.” ~Frances Naomi Vaughn

Meet a man that walks the walk, and is a fine member of the Good Idee Group.

Have you heard the story of Mr. Henry Darby, the high school principal in North Charleston S.C.? Henry is no Spring chicken; yet after school, he also works the graveyard shift at his local Walmart from 10p.m til’ 7a.m. for some extra money. So, with no sleep, Henry heads straight to his school when he gets off work. Henry then rations out his Walmart income to his students and to his community, where 90% of his students live under the poverty line. Henry also spreads his meager Walmart check around to his teachers as well, so that they can buy the most basic of classroom resources that they and many other teachers across the nation are paying for out of their own pockets these days because our education system is hemorrhaging on all fronts financially.

Are you OK with this?

Kindly speaking, ‘This is inept BS’ in our so-called 2024 AI, technologically-advanced America, that such a reality still exists for some. You and I, no matter our culture, should be highly offended.

Many people falsely believe that kids like those at Henry’s school, because they are minorities, receive a free college education. Guess what? They don't. So how many of Henry's kids who were born so destitute, can even fathom the concept of taking out a loan for a college education?

And as Henry asked, “How many of these kids do you think have someone in their family that can mentor them on the importance of a high school education, much less a college education?

Henry’s answer?

“Very few I tell you. It’s as foreign to them as filet mignon!”

Exactly Henry.

So below, please find then, the answer. This is our way out; but only if we all work together within something we call, The MY Plan.

Imagine MY Stores. (Mine&Your) A MY Store would be like if Wal-Mart and CostCo had a baby; but prettier. It’s like a blend of a mega grocery and home goods store. MY Stores would be from coast-to-coast, in each community, just like a WM or CC.

MY Stores would be built by those educational mega-philanthropists, who would like to see a permanent solution, just like you and I do. Remember, they are already donating 60 BILLION per year to education trying to help. 60 Billion!

The next sentence is the MY Plan in a nutshell.

Each MY Store would be given back to each community that each store is located in. After each purchase, all of the “profit” from each and every purchase, 100% of it, would go right back to each purchaser’s MY personal account. A % from that account would then go right back into the schools within that community in order to fund that school’s financial needs not met by current tax dollar funding. A % of each purchase profit could also go to fund the present and future college tuitions of the children of the purchaser. Each My Store, each parent, would then be generating and co-funding (along with our current tax dollars that now go towards each schools) the needed $$’s lacking for all past, present, and future educational needs.

MY Stores would soon become our ‘self-owned,’ ‘self-mega-funding’ behemoth.

WE, together, would now own the lemonade stand.

Just imagine, a % to go toward paying off your past tuition debts, no matter how old the debt. A % could go toward teacher’s salaries, a % toward basic classroom resources like needed at Henry’s schools. Quality in-school mental health professionals, quality nutrition at lunch time, then a meal before leaving school for those that go back to food-challenged homes. How about a % toward top notch school safety measures?

In a MY store, everyone would clearly see the profit dollars they just earned from their purchase immediately at the register on their receipt. Those dollars would never be given back in cash dollars to any individual however. That money is put in each customer’s MY personal account. Those monies would then be paid out at specified times of need. i.e When their child starts college, the account would then pay that college with whatever amount of tuition dollars have been saved and put towards the child’s tuition for however long they have been shopping in a MY Store.

Watch this.

I got married in 1988. My daughter was born 8 years later. She graduated high school in 2014, 26 years after my wedding. So, had My Stores existed when I married in 1988, my wife and I could have been shopping in MY stores for 26 years by the time my daughter graduated HS. 26 years! That means, for 26 years, we could have been shopping at MY stores and putting all those profit dollars that are our families profits from our 26 years of family goods purchases, toward our daughter’s college education fund for all of those 26 years. Given the amount of money that we spend annually as a family at grocery stores/WM/Costco, her college education would have long been paid before her HS graduation. Once she graduated from HS and headed for college, our MY account would then pay out her tuition directly to the college. Those dollars could also be used to pay rent in the case of off campus housing and her living expenses while in college. That is money normally paid out of a parents pocket; and very hard to afford.

    What if my daughter would have chosen not to go to college; or what if someone shopping in a MY store has grown or no children? First, those dollars could never be cashed in. An individual could choose for those dollars to go toward several things though. They could be put back into whichever local schools that are deemed to need them the most, put toward proven, successful community programs, used to pay off their own past personal student loan debt, help pay off other’s past student loans, teacher salaries, etc.

      If MY ever becomes our new reality, all of us, even “the least of these” in our society, would be empowered as a “self-philanthropist.” We would all be improving our own personal lives and finances while simultaneously improving our children's and our communities.

OK, so maybe more like 2 minutes:30 seconds. But, 1 minute:45 seconds sounded better.

So, sue us : )

Is there any action that you can think of, that any of us could take, that would possibly be more self-empowering than the ‘self-philanthropy’ (and we love that word) of seeing our hard-earned $$’s circling back around to each person again, in order to properly fund the needs that have been lacking since forever in schools?

A MY Store in that community, would overrun Henry’s school with the funds his kids and their communities so desperately need; as it would all schools across America. Everyone would support it. Look at it, study it, try to envision it, then see if you can understand and envision the demand that would sensibly just be a naturally created excitement in all communities, for their own MY (Mine&Your) store.

If The MY Plan has gained your interest thus far, keep reading to find out what all we discovered in the 15 years that we have been developing while trying to find that one legal, political, or educational guru that could give us a good reason why it wouldn’t work; and then trying to perfect MY, once we knew that it would.

We all know that our tax dollars for our schools and communities have long been depleted. Additional tax dollars can’t touch what is needed, and we can’t afford any sort of unrealistic tax increase. Yet, we still go running to our elected officials, like government either has the money or solution. Teachers march on the courthouses, and beg for just a few more tax dollars.

Why? It’s called Brain-lock. We have been taught more tax dollars is our only recourse, the only power that we have.

The Plagues

• Teacher dollars: 94% of teachers purchase basic classroom resources out of their own pockets at an average of $479 each, just to be able to teach because government dollars have been tapped out long ago… yet we still keep running to our political leaders for more money? What money would that be…are we really that inept in our thinking?

  A recent Gallup poll shows that almost half of the teachers in the U.S. say they are actively looking for a different job. That’s not only heartbreaking for the professionals involved, it’s bad news for the stability of the industry. High teacher turnover impacts student performance and costs U.S. schools $7.3 billion in losses every year.

  https://www.weareteachers.com/why-teachers-quit/

• Mental well-being dollars: We are finally recognizing the need for more hands-on mental health professionals within the walls of our schools. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death of youth between the ages of 10-24. 20% of kids 13-18 live with a mental health condition. Left unchecked, these youth enter life emotionally unprepared, and sometimes turn their anger and illness back on the schools…

  https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/mental-health/school-psychology-and-mental-health/school-based-mental-health-services

• School safety dollars: Since Sandy Hook, 438 people have been shot in schools. There have been at least 239 school shootings. Most youth shooters gave warning signs they were about to commit their deeds but slipped through the school cracks. We find ourselves in a society where are schools are not safe anymore. Safety costs big money. The modern realization that we have long been neglectful of mental care and awareness of our youth though, costs huge dollars.

  https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/03/13/mental-health-trails-metal-detectors-in-school-safety-dollars

• School nutrition dollars: Eight in every ten school districts have had to take steps to offset financial losses since new food standards were implemented. Ironically, students say meals taste worse than what they had previously. And 17 million kids go home to food challenged homes. Imagine an unmet need so basic as your child going hungry on a daily basis.

  https://schoolnutrition.org/PressReleases/CostsofNutritionStandardsThreatenSchoolMealPrograms/

These well intended, unselfish, education and community philanthropists are certainly spending big dollars trying and searching for that holy grail; and bravo to them for their efforts. But as wealthy as they all are individually; they do not possess the dollars needed to fund what is needed on an everyday, day after day, perpetual basis. No, they do not have those dollars; but guess who does?

Me & You.

The Big Pic tab below will hopefully prove to you that we, the GIG, get it. We understand the reasons why minority groups and the poor are so overlooked and often so much further behind on all economic fronts. We know those deeply engrained psychological factors within a culture that so often keep many from excelling.

We aim to turn that ship around.