PAA faxed the following to all members of the Senate HELP committee today: Parent Voices Education Fax January 13, 2017 Parents ask for “No” vote on DeVos nomination We write to ask you to vote “no” on the appointment of Betsy DeVos for US Secretary of Education. Our request is based in large part on clear differences between her education agenda and what Parents Across America believes our children and schools actually need to succeed. We also base our opposition … →

The hearing on Betsy DeVos’s nomination to be the next U. S. Secretary of Education has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 17, by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. We call on you all to reach out THIS WEEKEND to your Senators who serve on this committee (list including phone # below). Please urge them to vote “NO” on the DeVos nomination. WHY SAY NO? Betsy DeVos is one of the strongest pro-voucher proponents in the nation … →

Steven Norton, the executive director of Michigan Parents for Schools, our affiliate in Michigan, home of Betsy DeVos, shared the following piece responding to a recent op-ed by former MI Governor Mitt Romney’s endorsing DeVos’s nomination by President-Elect Trump as U.S. Secretary of Education. Taking the people out of public education Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney recently authored a spirited defense of Mrs. Betsy DeVos, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the US Department of Education. Gov. Romney claims to … →

This Parents Across America webinar features educator/activist Jesse Hagopian who reframes education issues to clarify how bad education policies and practices such as high-stakes standardized testing, school privatization, and discriminatory discipline harm students of color. Jesse shares success stories from Seattle and elsewhere as a call to action for everyone who cares about high-quality public schools for all children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLJSPJ0si4c    

Press release *** For Immediate Release November 15, 2016 Contact: Julie Woestehoff, Interim Executive Director  773-715-3989 Laura Bowman, PAA-Roanoke Valley (VA) 540-819-6385 National parent group objects to pediatrician group’s revised screen time recommendations Parents upset that new AAP guidelines ignore in-school tech time Today, the national group Parents Across America (PAA) sent a letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) expressing its disappointment in the AAP’s recently-revised recommendations for children’s exposure to digital media. Charging the AAP with a … →

Some state boards of education are holding “listening tour” events over the next few weeks as they work on their state plans for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act. Many have already finished “round one” of such sessions and are preparing draft state plans to put out for public comment beginning in January 2017. If you read about PAA executive director Julie Woestehoff’s experience at such an event in Wyoming, you might wonder if going is a waste of time. … →

What do you think about this cautionary tale from John Harris Loflin, leader of PAA affiliate Parent Power in Indianapolis??? It was Monday morning. I reached down and got the Indy Star off the porch. I said “Good morning” and she returned the greeting. I have known Sue for over 15 years as a neighbor and now as a fellow parent. She and DeAndre have 2 boys, and my wife Molly and I also have a son. As I went … →

PAA interim executive director Julie Woestehoff attended a U.S. Department of Education-sponsored “Community Roundtable” on the Every Student Succeeds Act held today in Casper, Wyoming. The comments she intended to present are below. However, the event was far from the promised “listening session in which the public is invited to share ideas and provide meaningful input.” USDE is required by law to meaningfully involve the public, to listen to public concerns, and to adjust policies based on that input or … →