PAA leaders Laura Bowman (PAA-Roanoke Valley) and Julie Woestehoff (PAA interim executive director) have been collecting research and other information about test stress and our children. They presented this material for the first time during PAA Week, on July 24, 2015, and you can access the recording of the webinar here. Laura and Julie prepared a one-page fact sheet on test stress and a background piece detailing the research we found. We included some recommendations for addressing the crisis in … →

The results are in and Khem Irby, Pamela Grundy and Julie Woestehoff have been elected to the PAA Board for 2-year terms. Pam and Julie are returning Board members but Khem is new to the Board, though not to parent advocacy. Khem Irby is a leading parent activist/advocate in her NYC hometown, and current residence of Greensboro, NC. Khem was a legal secretary working in NYC for many international corporate law firms. She is married with six children ranging in … →

  Time to get ready for PAA Week! Let’s go! All public sessions will be recorded and posted after the session ends.     Day 1 – Sunday, July 19, 8PM ET: Kick-off (internal PAA session) This session is for PAA chapter and affiliate leaders only; invitations are going out through our internal system. If you have questions about your status, or are a leader who did not receive a link for this meeting and think you should have, please … →

PAA proudly stands with Journey for Justice and nearly 200 other signatories to their letter demanding fair, equitable reforms to ESEA including an end to high-stakes testing and charter school expansion along with full funding of Title 1 and funding for community schools and restorative justice programs. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2015 CONTACT: Rachel Tardiff, Rachel@FitzGibbonMedia.com, 202.746.1507 Nearly 200 Civil Rights, Community Groups Send Letter to Senate Demanding Fair & Equitable Reforms to ESEA Reauthorization Groups Highlight Disproportionate Consequences … →

On July 7, the Senate will begin to consider and move to a vote on a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to replace the No Child Left Behind Act. Over the past few months, PAA has been reviewing both the House and Senate proposals as they evolve. Our analysis of the House version, HR 5, the “Student Success Act,” is here; HR 5 passed out of the House education committee last February and is waiting for House action. … →

Journey for Justice and the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools has written a letter on civil rights, testing and school reform, which Parents Across America has endorsed. The letter addresses the position of a few traditional civil rights groups to maintain the federal annual testing mandate, claiming that such tests are needed to assure equity. The J4J letter responds to that claim by citing the ever-growing number of standardized tests being given to children: We are not opposed to state … →

Today, PAA sent the following letter to the office of Representative Tom Reed (R-NY), endorsing his opt-out bill, which is also sponsored by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Chris Gibson (R-NY): June 16, 2015 Dear Representative Reed: Parents Across America is pleased to endorse H. 2382, the Enable More Parents to Opt-Out Without Endangering Resources Act. PAA is a non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization that connects parents of all backgrounds across the United States to share ideas and work together to … →

PAA just faxed this letter to all 100 U.S. Senators: Parent Voices Education Fax May 7, 2015 Please co-sponsor S.1025 to return to sensible, limited use of standardized tests   Why are parents opting out of testing in record numbers? There is a growing movement of parents and students across the U.S. opting out of standardized tests. This phenomenon is taking place because parents, students, teachers, and other educators believe that the misuse and overuse of tests has reached a … →

Many thanks to Kyle Serrette and the Center for Popular Democracy for joining with PAA in last night’s webinar, Holding Charter Schools Accountable, which presented so much important information about charter school waste and mismanagement of millions of dollars every year. Lawmakers ignore this growing scandal as they continue to push for rapid charter school expansion. Parents need to learn the facts about charter school waste, confront our representatives, and push for common-sense reforms. If you missed the event last … →