Our mission
The Spare Change That Could Set American Education Free.
Every card swipe. Rounded up. 137 billion transactions a year. $68.6B. No tax. No mandate. Just the cents left over — aimed at classrooms instead of collection plates in Washington.
If every US card transaction rounded up starting January 1st…
generated this year from spare change alone
That's enough to fund 0 classroom teaching teams right now
Based on 137B annual US card transactions × $0.50 avg roundup · Source ↗
Three numbers that rewrite the whole conversation.
One pool. Two phases. Zero federal strings.
Phase 1 — now
Teaching scholarships
The pool funds full college scholarships for future teachers — tuition, fees, and living costs at partner colleges. Graduates start their careers with zero debt and a pledge to teach in partner community schools.
Phase 2 — the goal
Privately funded classrooms
Those teachers staff privately funded classroom teams — paid above market, with 20% of paid hours protected for planning — so teachers gain the freedom to educate, answering to students, parents, and community instead of relying solely on federal funds.
One pool. Every member's round-ups. No per-cause silos — the same dollars fund the scholarships today and, at scale, the classrooms themselves.
Six steps from your coffee to a free classroom.
You buy lunch for $12.43
Your card rounds to $13.00 — $0.57 enters the pool.
267 million adults do this every day
137 billion transactions. $68.6 billion per year. Passively.
The pool pays for college
It can fund full teaching scholarships — tuition, fees, and living costs — for tens of thousands of future teachers a year. Zero debt. In exchange: a pledge to teach in partner community schools.
Debt-free teachers staff classroom teams
1 lead teacher + 2 teachers + 1 paraprofessional = 1 classroom team, serving 56 students — with 20% of paid hours protected for planning, inside the paid day.
Classrooms answer to communities
Federal money is about 11% of school funding — but it carries the strings. A private pool flips that: teachers teach, and the people funding them are the parents and neighbors in the checkout line.
By year 15, round-ups fund it alone
As school-choice programs and local match co-fund network schools, spare change alone fully funds classroom teams for 9.5 million students — 105% covered, federally independent.
Teachers shouldn't start their careers in debt. So we're changing that.
The average graduate who borrows leaves college $29,560 in debt — and teachers then earn 26.9% less than similar graduates. The math pushes people out of the classroom before they ever reach one: only 4%of bachelor's degrees are in education today, down from about 21% in 1970. RallyUp breaks that cycle.
The current path
- 4 years tuition + fees
- $47,800
- Debt at graduation
- $29,560 avg
- Teacher pay vs peers
- 26.9% less (EPI)
- Career pressure
- leave for higher-paying fields
The RallyUp path
- College
- fully funded ($47,800)
- Living expenses
- $55,600 covered
- Debt at graduation
- $0
- Pledge
- teach in partner community schools
What we pay now vs. what the teaching actually costs.
| Metric | Current System | RallyUp Model |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost per adult | $3,260 | $1,268.78 |
| Covered by spare change | $0 | $256.93 |
| Monthly out-of-pocket | $272/mo | $84.32/mo |
| Teacher enters the classroom with | $29,560 avg debt | $0 debt |
| Teacher pay vs similar graduates | 26.9% less | above market + lead premium |
| Protected planning time | unpaid evenings & weekends | 20% of paid hours |
| Teacher's own money spent on supplies | $895/yr | $0 |
| Classrooms answering to federal funding strings | all of them | 0 |
Source: Census FY2024 · NCES · NEA 2025 · EPI 2024 · AdoptAClassroom 2025. The RallyUp column funds instructional staffing + scholarships — not buildings, transport, or administration. See /the-math.
Your $0.57 is already changing things.
No minimum to start. No fees to join. Cancel anytime. Members commit to $1,000/yr in round-ups — most reach it through everyday spending.