The MY (Mine&Your) Plan

Introduction

The MY Plan - A Community-Owned Vision for Educational Funding Reform

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

Executive Summary

America’s educational system is facing a growing financial crisis. Public schools across the country struggle daily to provide students and teachers with the resources they need, while families continue to shoulder an overwhelming burden of college tuition debt. Today, student loan debt in the United States exceeds $1.7 trillion.

The MY (Mine & Your) Plan is a proposed community-based retail funding model designed to generate long-term educational funding without increasing taxes or requiring direct financial donations from American families.

The concept is simple: community-owned retail stores would return store profits directly into individual education accounts that families could use to support educational needs such as:

K–12 school funding
College tuition
Existing student loan repayment
School nutrition programs
Teacher support and classroom resources
School safety initiatives
Student mental health services

Rather than relying solely on tax revenue or charitable donations, the MY Plan seeks to redirect the economic power of everyday consumer spending into a perpetual funding source for education.

The proposal envisions partnerships with philanthropists, communities, and corporate leaders to establish a nationwide network of community-owned retail stores whose profits would directly benefit students and families.

The goal is not temporary relief, but the creation of a permanent educational funding engine that empowers communities and expands opportunity for every child.

For more than 40 years, the Good Idee Group (GIG) has worked with organizations around the world to solve difficult problems—often problems others believed had no solution. Today, we believe America faces one of those challenges in education.

Across the nation, schools struggle daily to provide the resources students need to succeed. Teachers purchase classroom supplies from their own pockets. Mental health services remain underfunded. School safety improvements are expensive. Millions of children face food insecurity. Meanwhile, Americans collectively carry more than $1.7 trillion in student loan debt.

For decades, communities have searched for a permanent solution. We believe one now exists.

After 16 years of development, the Good Idee Group presents The MY Plan—short for Mine & Yours.

Why the Current System Is Failing

America’s educational funding system relies heavily on property taxes, a model established nearly 200 years ago. That system increasingly disadvantages lower-income communities because schools located in economically struggling areas generate less local tax revenue.

The result is predictable:

fewer educational resources,
lower teacher retention,
reduced opportunities,
and diminished hope for future generations.

Communities with the greatest need often receive the least support.

This inequality is visible in schools across America.

May I show you an example of such a school in our supposed 2026 age of technological advancement?

Meet Henry-

In North Charleston, South Carolina, Principal Henry Darby works overnight shifts at Walmart after spending full days leading his school. He uses much of his additional income to help feed students and support teachers who cannot afford classroom supplies.

His story is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

When educators must work second jobs to provide basic necessities for students, it reveals a deeper structural problem—not a lack of compassion, but a lack of sustainable funding.

The question is not whether people care. As can be seen, Americans clearly do.

Every year:

philanthropists donate billions to education,
parents and their surrounding community overwhelmingly support school fundraisers,
teachers sacrifice personal income,

The problem is that these efforts, while admirable, are temporary and fragmented. They do not create a permanent funding engine capable of supporting every school, every child, and every community.What you are about to discover though, is the solution that will.

The Core Idea Behind The MY Plan

Americans spend trillions of dollars annually on everyday consumer goods:

groceries,
household supplies,
clothing,
personal essentials,
and other necessities.

The MY Plan proposes redirecting the profits generated from those purchases back into education.

How It Would Work

Imagine a nationwide network of community-owned retail stores called MY Stores.

These stores would operate similarly to major retail chains, offering everyday products families already purchase regularly. However, unlike traditional retailers, the profits generated by MY Stores would not enrich private shareholders.

Instead, those profits would flow back into educational funding accounts tied to participating families and communities.

Each customer would accumulate education credits through their purchases, which could then support:

K–12 public schools,
private school tuition,
college tuition savings,
student loan repayment,
teacher salaries,
school nutrition programs,
mental health services,
and school safety initiatives.

In short, families would continue buying the products they already need—but the profits generated from those purchases would directly support education.

Why This Model Matters

The MY Plan transforms consumers into educational investors.

Rather than relying exclusively on taxes, donations, or government intervention, the model creates a self-sustaining funding system powered by ordinary spending behavior.

Under this concept:

communities become partial owners of the funding system,
educational support becomes perpetual rather than temporary,
and families across all income levels participate in building educational opportunity.

Even households with modest incomes could generate meaningful educational support over time simply through normal spending.

Addressing Educational Inequality

The MY Plan is especially designed to help underserved communities that have historically lacked educational opportunity.

Many low-income families want desperately to support their children’s education but lack the financial means to do so. The MY Plan seeks to empower those families rather than position them as passive recipients of aid.

By allowing educational funding to grow through ordinary household purchases, the plan creates a pathway for every family to contribute directly to their children’s future.

This is not charity.

It is participation.

A Different Kind of Philanthropy

Educational philanthropists already donate billions of dollars each year attempting to improve schools and reduce tuition burdens. The MY Plan proposes using philanthropic investment differently—not simply funding individual schools temporarily, but helping establish a permanent, self-sustaining educational infrastructure.

Under this model, philanthropic investment could:

launch MY Stores,
acquire existing retail infrastructure,
modernize operations,
and help communities transition into long-term educational ownership.

Instead of repeatedly funding symptoms, the goal would be to build a system capable of continually generating educational resources for future generations.

The Long-Term Vision

Imagine a child whose parents begin shopping through the MY system shortly after birth.

Over the course of 18 years, a portion of those family purchases could accumulate toward:

college tuition,
educational savings,
or other approved educational expenses.

By the time that student graduates high school, much—or potentially all—of their tuition costs could already be covered through years of ordinary consumer activity.

At scale, the implications are enormous:

reduced student debt,
stronger schools,
better teacher retention,
improved child nutrition,
expanded mental health services,
and safer learning environments.

Why We Believe This Can Work

Americans already possess tremendous economic power through collective spending. The MY Plan simply asks a new question:

What if the profits generated from our daily purchases worked for our children instead of only for corporations?

That idea sits at the heart of this proposal.

The MY Plan is intentionally:

nonpartisan,
culturally inclusive,
economically scalable,
and community-centered.

It is not built around politics. It is built around participation.

A Call to Conversation

The Good Idee Group does not seek financial contributions for itself. The purpose of this proposal is simply to place the idea into public conversation and in front of individuals, organizations, and philanthropists capable of evaluating and potentially developing it further.

We believe America’s educational crisis requires bold, creative thinking.

The MY Plan is offered in that spirit.

The MY Plan

A Community-Owned Vision for Educational Funding

Many people assume that students from low-income or minority communities automatically receive a free college education. In reality, most do not. For many children growing up in deeply impoverished environments, even imagining college can feel impossible—let alone taking on tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.

Principal Henry Darby once asked:

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

His answer was sobering:

“Very few. It’s as foreign to them as filet mignon.”

That reality is exactly why the MY Plan was created.

Charities exist because the problems they address continue to exist. While charitable giving is valuable, lasting progress requires solutions that reduce dependency on temporary aid and create sustainable systems of support.

As Albert Einstein famously said:

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

The MY Plan is designed to address educational inequities by creating a permanent funding mechanism powered by everyday consumer spending.

Why the MY Plan Matters

Historically underserved communities—particularly lower-income Black and Latino communities—have faced systemic educational disadvantages for generations. Statistically, students from these communities are less likely to pursue higher education, often because college appears financially unattainable.

For many families, post-secondary education does not represent opportunity—it represents debt.

The MY Plan seeks to change that dynamic.

Under this model, a portion of profits generated from everyday purchases would return to participating families as educational funding credits. Those credits could then support:

K–12 education,
college tuition,
student loan repayment,
educational programs,
school resources,
and community learning initiatives.

The goal is empowerment through participation.

A New Relationship Between Spending and Education

Americans already spend trillions of dollars annually on essential goods and household purchases. The MY Plan asks a simple but transformative question:

What if the profits generated from our everyday spending flowed back into education instead of only to corporate shareholders?

Through community-centered MY Stores, participating families could accumulate educational funding simply through purchases they already make:

groceries,
household items,
clothing,
and other everyday necessities.

Over time, those accumulated funds could substantially reduce or eliminate future educational debt burdens.

The Power of Permanent Funding

Traditional philanthropy often provides temporary relief. Donations may help individual schools or programs, but they rarely create a permanent funding structure.

The MY Plan proposes a different approach:

create self-sustaining educational funding,
empower communities directly,
and transform consumers into long-term educational investors.

Rather than repeatedly “patching leaks,” the MY Plan seeks to build a system capable of continually generating support for schools and families nationwide.

Under this concept, philanthropists would not simply donate money—they would help establish a perpetual funding engine capable of serving generations of students.

Why This Could Unite Communities

The MY Plan is intentionally:

nonpartisan,
culturally inclusive,
economically scalable,
and community-driven.

It does not require everyone to think alike politically, culturally, or socially. Instead, it offers a shared outcome:

“I help support your child’s future, and you help support mine.”

That principle lies at the heart of the proposal.

The Economic Potential

The financial implications are significant.

Families already spend substantial portions of their income on essential goods every year. Under the MY model, those same purchases could gradually generate:

college savings,
school funding,
teacher support,
mental health resources,
nutrition programs,
and school safety improvements.

The concept reframes consumer spending as a collective educational investment.

It also raises broader possibilities, including whether stronger supplemental educational funding could eventually reduce pressure on local property taxes.

Educational Challenges America Already Faces

Across the country:

teachers routinely purchase classroom supplies with personal income,
schools struggle to fund mental health professionals,
safety improvements remain costly,
and millions of children face food insecurity.

According to national education reporting, teacher turnover alone costs U.S. schools billions annually.

Mental health concerns among students continue to rise, increasing demand for school-based support services.

At the same time, many school districts continue struggling to fund nutrition programs and basic educational resources.

The MY Plan is presented as a possible long-term framework for addressing these interconnected challenges through permanent supplemental funding.

A Vision of Empowerment

One of the most important aspects of the MY Plan is that it seeks to empower families rather than simply assist them.

Even households with limited income participate in the economy every day. Under the MY model, ordinary spending becomes a way for families to invest directly in:

their children,
their schools,
and their communities.

The proposal aims to create a system where educational opportunity grows from participation rather than dependence.

A Call to Action

The Good Idee Group believes the resources necessary to transform educational funding already exist within the scale of America’s economy and collective spending power.

What has been missing is a framework capable of channeling that power back into education in a permanent and sustainable way.

The MY Plan is offered as that framework.

The goal now is simple: