New TX Re-districting Map Splits Austin School District in Half
May 16, 2012 No Comments ›› Lorie BarzanoLorie Barzano, Co-Chair, CoalitionSAUS (Strengthen Austin Urban Schools), PAA affiliate and parent led group representing 20 public school campuses in Austin’s urban core, which has a vision of quality, accessible public education for all. According to the most recent US Census, Texas again gained population during the past ten years. That means TX legislators have [...]
Continue ReadingTexas Lives Up to Its Moniker as Lone STAAR State
Feb 18, 2012 No Comments ›› Lorie BarzanoOur proposals on the Senate ESEA reauthorization bill
Oct 19, 2011 5 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonThis letter is available as a pdf here. A version of the letter which you can edit to fax to your Senators is here. A handy chart laying out which provisions in the bill we support and oppose is here. October 18, 2011 Re: Reauthorization of ESEA Dear Senator Harkin: Your proposed revisions to the [...]
Continue ReadingTeach for America Displays Taken Down in Portland and Seattle
Sep 18, 2011 2 Comments ›› DoraTaylorAccording to a previous post on the Seattle Education blog, Parents Across America, Seattle: Part of Protest at Apple Store: Steve Jobs with Apple has gotten on the ed reform bandwagon and is offering free iPads to Teach for America recruits but of course none to real teachers who have teaching experience, degrees in education [...]
Continue ReadingPAA opposes House charter school bill
Jul 5, 2011 No Comments ›› pureparentsToday Parents Across America (PAA) released a position paper opposing HR 2218, the so-called “Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act.”
Continue ReadingPresentation to Department of Ed public meeting on assessment
Jun 16, 2011 3 Comments ›› pureparentsThe June 10 USDE “Automated Scoring of Summative Assessments” public meeting in Chicago was eerily like a Pentagon briefing for vendors on the latest weapons technology. USDE’s Ann Whelan, who chaired the meeting, actually wrapped up the day by saying, “We need to be bold and move the industry forward.” I wondered if we should [...]
Continue ReadingStealth U.S. charter network linked to Gulen raises concerns
Jun 8, 2011 5 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonThe New York Times this week published an investigative report about the financial practices of a sizable group of Texas charter schools being operated by the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic religious leader “whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name.” While the New York Times focused [...]
Continue ReadingStandardized Testing: Playing into the Privatizers’ Hands
May 16, 2011 2 Comments ›› pagrundyBy Pamela Grundy The scene: a Board of Education meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina The situation: Board members are considering a motion to roll back an testing program that mandates high-stakes standardized tests for every child in every subject in every grade – a program that has sparked anger from teachers and parents across the [...]
Continue ReadingThe Broad Foundation in Charlotte
May 8, 2011 1 Comment ›› pagrundyThe Charlotte Observer has published an insightful article on the Broad Foundation in Charlotte: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/08/2281054/whos-the-power-behind-cms.html. The first paragraph: “Superintendent Peter Gorman may be the face of public education in Charlotte, but is a Los Angeles billionaire the power behind the scenes?” Observer education reporter Ann Doss Helms also has a blog post that lays out [...]
Continue ReadingTesting Madness: Charlotte Today, Your Schools Tomorrow
May 4, 2011 2 Comments ›› pagrundyBy Pamela Grundy This spring, Charlotte, North Carolina, saw an explosion of standardized testing. In March, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) rolled out 52 new standardized tests for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Our Broad Foundation trained superintendent proudly proclaims that we will soon lead the nation in testing, with standardized tests for every student in [...]
Continue ReadingAn afternoon at Princeton with Arne Duncan
Apr 21, 2011 25 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonby Leonie Haimson Yesterday, I attended a speech by Education Secretary Arne Duncan at Princeton University. I was accompanied by Justin Wedes, the webmaster and social media expert for Parents Across America, and parent activist Julie Sass Rubin of SOS New Jersey, a PAA affiliate. It was a gorgeous spring day, with the magnolias and [...]
Continue ReadingPAA press release on new ESEA position paper
Apr 20, 2011 2 Comments ›› pureparentsIt’s time for lawmakers to listen to parents! National parent group reaches out to Congress on ESEA, demanding less testing and privatization and more proven, effective reforms As Congress considers the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, aka No Child Left Behind), Parents Across America, a national network of public school parents, [...]
Continue ReadingHow to tell if your School District is infected by the Broad Virus
Apr 20, 2011 16 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonThis was originally posted on seattleducation2011. For more information see: A Parent Guide to the Broad Foundation’s training programs and education policies by Parents Across America (or as a pdf factsheet.) Chicago has just learned that it will inherit Rochester, New York’s controversial and unpopular school superintendent, Jean-Claude Brizard (Broad Superintendent’s Academy “Class of 2007″). [...]
Continue ReadingA Parent Guide to the Broad Foundation’s programs and policies
Apr 19, 2011 24 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonThis guide can also be downloaded as a pdf fact sheet. A Parent Guide to the Broad Foundation’s training programs and education policies The question I ask is why should Eli Broad and Bill Gates have more of a say as to what goes on in my child’s classroom than I do? – Sue Peters, [...]
Continue ReadingJohn White, the next Superintendent of New Orleans?
Apr 6, 2011 11 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonUPDATE: his appointment was just announced; see Times-Picayune, with quotes from MBP Stringer, Irene Kaufman and me. My condolences to New Orleans. John White, NYC Deputy Chancellor, is reportedly being considered as the next Superintendent of New Orleans schools. White led the DOE’s efforts to expand charters, and to co-locate them in already existing schools. [...]
Continue ReadingWhat’s happened in Florida in the past three weeks; read it and weep!
Apr 3, 2011 24 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonby Rita Solnet As promised, here’s what happened in the past three, sad, never-to-be-forgotten weeks in Florida as it relates to public education. SB 736 ENACTED: 1) Teachers will have 50% of their evaluations based on student’s standardized test scores (FCATs). This is effective immediately and impacts every teacher. Anyone who does not teach Reading or Math [...]
Continue ReadingSign our petition to Congress against education cuts now!
Mar 27, 2011 9 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonIn states and districts all over the country, public school budgets are being slashed to the bone, and class sizes have increased at unprecedented rates, despite the fact that smaller classes have been shown to improve outcomes for all students, particularly our neediest children. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has proposed cutting federal aid [...]
Continue ReadingWarning to parents about ALEC and its draft education legislation
Mar 27, 2011 3 Comments ›› leoniehaimsonSee the message below from a PAA member in Texas, Karen Miller. Karen is forwarding information about William Cronon, a noted historian at UW-Madison, who wrote about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization backed by business interests that circulates draft legislation in every state capital, including anti-union legislation approved in Wisconsin. In [...]
Continue ReadingCharlotte value-added fight moves forward
Mar 19, 2011 No Comments ›› pagrundyPAA affiliate Mecklenburg ACTS is pressing forward with its challenge to the use of value-added calculations in the pay for performance system being developed by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (Charlotte, N.C. ) We’re moving toward 300 signatures on our petition calling for better and fairer teacher evaluations, and have just published an explanation of our stance [...]
Continue ReadingPAA press release on “Parent Trigger” legislation
Mar 16, 2011 No Comments ›› leoniehaimsonFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011 Contact: Leonie Haimson (NYC): 917-435-9329; leonieh@parentsacrossamerica.org Julie Woestehoff (Chicago): 773-538-1135; juliew@parentsacrossamerica.org Bill Ring (LA): 310-600-2015; billr@parentsacrossamerica.org Andrea Mérida (Denver): 303-550-0677; andream@parentsacrossamerica.org Caroline Grannan (SF): 415-412-5758; carolineg@parentsacrossamerica.org Julia Sass Rubin (NJ): 609-683-0046; jlsrubin@verizon.net Parents Across America: We oppose Parent Trigger laws Reform should rely on proven solutions that involve parents [...]
Continue Reading