COMING SOON

Schoolroom

For the beneficiaries the trust exists to serve.

The Schoolroom is the room for the people the school trust was actually built for: the children whose education the framers of 1785 thought worth pledging the unsold West to. They are the legal beneficiaries of the trust, and they are very rarely the people the trust gets explained to. This room sets out to change that — in language a seventh-grader can read and a teacher can carry into a civics lesson.

Why this room matters. A beneficiary who doesn't know they're a beneficiary cannot hold a trustee to account. Most of the seventy million American schoolchildren whose schools sit downstream of the trust have never heard the word. This room is part of the long work of telling them.

What you'll find here. State-by-state plain-language explainers, classroom-ready materials, lesson plans for civics teachers, a short video explanation when the equipment catches up, and downloadable handouts for any teacher who wants to teach the school-trust idea in a one-period class.

Letters from schoolchildren. A wall will be reserved for letters from schoolchildren who write to us with questions, surprise, or correction. We will answer every one.

Being planned. A one-page handout, first.

Want to help build this room? Get in touch via the Reference Desk.