Position paper: Why PAA opposes mass school closingsPAA-New Orleans chapter protests charter school discrimination against disabled studentsParent “choice”: Schools choose – students loseParents VotePAA marchers begin the SOS March July 2011Founders speak at PAA kickoff forum, Feb. 8, 2011
Position paper: Why PAA opposes mass school closings
PAA-New Orleans chapter protests charter school discrimination against disabled students
Parent “choice”: Schools choose – students lose
Parents Vote
PAA marchers begin the SOS March July 2011
Founders speak at PAA kickoff forum, Feb. 8, 2011

A teacher talks to children about Sandy Hook tragedy

Posted on December 17, 2012 by pureparents

We share this San Francisco Chronicle story about how teacher Steve Rubenstein, the husband of PAA founding member Caroline Grannan, talked to his students about the Sandy Hook school tragedy: Back at Buena Vista Horace Mann in San Francisco’s Mission District, another teacher, Steve Rubenstein, learned of the tragedy by phone as he and his sixth-graders trooped back to class after seeing a play. A former newspaper reporter, Rubenstein felt it was important for the students to know. He teed it … →

Over $1B and counting for TFA, Inc., de facto discrimination in charter schools, the failed Microsoft model hoisted onto our educational system and Maryland superintendent says “Stop the insanity”

Posted on December 16, 2012 by DoraTaylor

The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed. “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” Frederick Douglass I keep wondering when folks in this country are going to say enough is enough. Until then the Wendy Kopp’s, Michelle Rhee’s, the Waltons and the Gates will continue to plow on and plow  us under. Today, we’ll begin … →

Update on Adelanto Parent Trigger status

Posted on December 15, 2012 by pureparents

Two parent triggers have been deployed in California, total, and there have been no other parent triggers anywhere. Here’s what’s happened in those two cases: McKinley Elementary, Compton, CA Parent Revolution orchestrated this one entirely without the involvement of the parent community. After the petitions were delivered, many parents protested and said they did not want the school to become a charter. Many said they had been told the petitions were to beautify or improve the school. Parent Revolution had … →

PAA-Washington letter on new charter school law

Posted on December 15, 2012 by pureparents

Dec. 5, 2012 To Superintendent Dorn: Parents Across America of Washington State, the local chapters of the national organization dedicated to the preservation of public education, has concluded that Initiative 1240 is in violation of the Washington State Constitution on multiple counts. We therefore urge the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to pursue a legal challenge to I-1240, based on the following grounds: 1.      I-1240 would establish a charter school commission comprised of politically appointed members with … →

Speak out about the school-to-prison pipeline

Posted on December 13, 2012 by pureparents

Yesterday, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin convened a hearing on the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a way of describing the way some school policies and practices may simply push students – particularly low-income students and students of color – out of school and into jail. Zero tolerance policies, school closings, high-stakes testing, and other factors contribute to this devastating situation. This was an unprecedented hearing, and, unlike the panels of corporate reformers we more often see gathered to share their positions, this time … →

Welcome new Michigan chapter!

Posted on December 13, 2012 by pureparents

Welcome new chapter in Utica, MI   We are excited to have a new chapter in Utica, Michigan, called Parents Across Utica Community Schools. They reached out to PAA for help with their Broad superintendent and a Board President who also runs a “virtual learning academy.” They are asking for our help – please “like” the Parents Across Utica Community Schools Facebook page and follow them for updates and action alerts. Their story, which follows, can be found in somewhat … →

Welcome new Atlanta chapter!

Posted on December 13, 2012 by pureparents

Welcome new chapter, PAA-Atlanta/GA/Atlanta Public Schools! We’re delighted to welcome another new chapter, this one in Atlanta. Founder Kimberly Brooks is a former PTA president who is studying for her masters degree. Parents in Atlanta are discouraged by the well-known test cheating scandal and recent passage of charter school expansion laws in the state. They feel their voices are not being heard. Kimberly brings a lot of enthusiasm to our national network! You can contact her at kimberlybrooks.kim@gmail.com Welcome, Kimberly … →

Philly affiliate files ethics complaint against foundation

Posted on December 13, 2012 by pureparents

Our Philadelphia founding member, Helen Gym, shared news reports that her group, Parents United for Public Education, and others have filed an ethics complaint against the William Penn Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group,  alleging that BCG was acting as a lobbyist when it developed a plan for the School District of Philadelphia including major  school closures and charter expansion, funded through and at the direction of the foundation. BCG would have been required to disclose their donors, many of … →

Introducing the Edu$hyters of the week and they all hail from the great state of Michigan

Posted on December 3, 2012 by DoraTaylor

The Edu$hyster ring in Michigan Utica Community Schools, as the second largest district in Michigan, has always been a leader in education.  Students have always had a high rate of success.  In comparison to districts across the nation, Utica has always been financially healthy.  Utica has been a wealth of potential for multiple facets of education, art and culture and many of those programs have been decimated to cater to the special interest of profiteers and politicians.   Carol Klenow, … →

Weekly Update: K12, Inc. tanks with parents and Wall Street, how “non-profit” charter school$ fleece taxpayers, a school to prison pipeline, literally, and much, much more.

Posted on December 1, 2012 by DoraTaylor

  The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed Helen Barkin writes a thorough review of what happened state by state on November 6, 2012 in this article. What Happened to Public Education on Election Night? An excerpt: Barack Obama’s K-12 “reform” policies have brought misery to public schools across the country: more standardized testing, faulty evaluations for teachers based on student test scores, more public schools shut down rather than improved, more privately managed and … →

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