ReadWriteWeb

It's hard to deny that the U.S. education system faces a multitude of challenges: lack of funding, overcrowded classrooms, high drop-out rates, falling test scores (not to mention the pressures of testing altogether). The phrase and legislation "No Child Left Behind" leave a bitter taste in many people's mouths as our schools often focus on a one-size-fits-all model that does, in fact, leave many students behind.

With a controversial article last month in the LA Times that the undertook a "value-added" analysis of local teachers to ascertain their "effectiveness," and with the release this week of the new documentary Waiting for Superman by Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, the subject of education is getting a lot of press over the last few weeks. And while a national "conversation" about the subject is crucial, our schools - our kids - deserve more than talk.

A while ago, I wrote a rather condemning post on how most "social media for social good" efforts were heavy on social media activities but came up short on actual social good.

Still, there are organizations such as Kiva, The Extraordinaires or SocialVibe and many others that do turn user microactions and technology to affect change and do good in very tangible ways. Those are just three of the tech nonprofit or philanthropic organizations I can think of at the moment, but we at RWW would love to know more. Tell us in the comment what your favorite tech nonprofit is and why.

Today, the much-lauded microlender Kiva announced it will begin a pilot program of loans to U.S. small enterprise. Kiva began in Africa, and after four years has since expanded to 44 countries, mostly in the developing world.

The test will start with 45 U.S. businesses, ranging from baked goods deliveries to child care and taxi drivers. For now, the loans are limited to New York and California, though Kiva is actively seeking new Field Partners to move in to more regions in the U.S.

Tonight, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Knight Foundation has just awarded a total of $5 million to a number of local journalism projects in the U.S. These projects range from creating hyper-local online news sites, to building local Web portals, and establishing local news bureaus.

While the Knight Foundation's endowment has been hurt by the current economic climate, the Foundation is still committed to granting a total of $24 million to local media projects over the next five years.