We know that most of our PAA chapter and affiliate members are not able to get to Washington DC this coming week for our annual leadership conference, so we’re going to try to create some opportunities for you to participate in some of our activities virtually and long-distance. Let’s start with our Capitol Hill Day on Monday, July 28. A number of PAA leaders will be visiting Congress that day, highlighting three priority issues: Reducing high-stakes testing, Strengthening student privacy … →
Parents OPPOSE S.2304, the “Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act” Downloadable version of this position paper here. On May 7, 2014, S.2304 was introduced to the US Senate for consideration. The bill is currently in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It is the Seante’s response to HR 10, the House version of charter school expansion legislation, which passed on May 9, 2014, on a vote of 360 to 45. PAA opposed HR 10. We also oppose … →
Parents Across America is holding our 2014 Leadership Conference from Monday – Wednesday, July 28-30, 2014, in Washington DC. Please join us!!! The event will begin on Monday night with the first PAA Parent Voice Award Dinner honoring PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, who led the successful attempt to shut down the student data collection corporation, inbloom. She is a warrior in the battle to protect student privacy. This dinner is open to the public; you may purchase tickets or make … →
Join Parents Across America at our first annual Parent Voice Award Dinner honoring PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, leader of New York City-based Class Size Matters. This year, Leonie nearly single-handedly organized parents around the U.S. to oppose the impending commercialization of student information by the inBloom company, which ultimately went out of business after every state on its original clientele list pulled out of the program. Leonie is also the founder of NYC-based Class Size Matters, a group dedicated to … →
Schedule for 2014 PAA Leadership Conference Day 1 – Monday July 28 10 am to 6 pm (optional) – Join BATS march. More info here. Beginning at 8:30 am (optional) – Meet your legislators on Capitol Hill. Pick up PAA materials if you have not already downloaded them (location TBA). We will coordinate communications and visits as we get closer to the day. Anytime after 3:00 pm – Check in at George Washington University Inn (GWUI), 824 … →
By PAA-Suburban Philadelphia leader Danielle Schwartz, reprinted from her excellent blog, What’s the Big Idea? Politicians are ignoring research, allowing re-segregation, and supporting charter schools over public. As I posted here, economist, Milton Friedman developed the concept of school choice in 1955, a year after desegregation. Friedman wrote about his desire for parents to chose if their children would attend racially desegregated schools: ” Under (a choice) system, there can develop exclusively white schools, exclusively colored schools, and mixed schools. … →
By PAA-Suburban Philadelphia leader Danielle Schwartz, reprinted from her excellent blog, What’s the Big Idea? In President Obama’s Proclamation on the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, he confuses those of us who fully understand the fallout of this administration’s decisions and actions on public education. He states, “On the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, let us heed the words of Justice Thurgood Marshall, who so ably argued the case against segregation, “None of us got … →
North Carolina Parents call on General Assembly to end Read to Achieve Contacts: Pamela Grundy, Mecklenburg ACTS.org, pamgrundy@earthlink.net, 704-806-0410 Janna Robertson, UNC-Wilmington Dropout Prevention Coalition, Robertsonj@uncw.edu, 910-777-1930 Ilina Ewen, third-grade parent, Raleigh, theewens@gmail.com, 919-632-2915 MecklenburgACTS.org, Fix Read to Achieve Now and a coalition of concerned North Carolina parents call on our fellow parents across the state to urge their state representatives to end the disastrous Read to Achieve program, and to invest instead in more efficient and effective … →
This week the U.S. House is likely to pass HR 10, what we call the charter expansion bill. Then it is on track to move to the Senate. So, now’s the time to contact your Senators and tell them that parents’ CHOICE is more resources for local schools, not more money for charter schools. It wouldn’t hurt to contact your Congressman, too – they haven’t voted yet! Here’s what PAA faxed to every U.S. Senator today (and you can send … →
By Danielle Arnold-Schwartz, leader of PAA-Suburban Philadelphia I am grateful to live in a country where we have had First Amendment rights since 1791. “This clause prohibits the government from banning speech because it does not agree with the message… James Madison pointed to freedom of speech as a vital aspect of a healthy republic. While originally written to apply to actions of the federal government, the Supreme Court incorporated it into state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment in the … →
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