PAA affiliates in North and South Carolina have had a busy year, and are looking forward to new rounds of action and advocacy at local and state levels. Public Schools First NC (PSFNC) Website: publicschoolsfirstnc.org Public Schools First NC is a statewide, nonpartisan organization focused solely on public education. Our mission is to educate and mobilize citizens in support of a public education system that equitably offers a high-quality, well-funded, and diverse education to all students. Since our inception in … →

  As the new school year begins, PAA has asked its chapters and affiliates to provide descriptions of the past year’s activities and what they’re planning for this year. We’ll be posting these descriptions a few at a time, starting with our Pennsylvania affiliates, Parents United for Public Education and Yinzercation.   Parents United for Public Education Founded in 2006, Parents United for Public Education is a parent-led citywide organization focused on engaging parents with the budget process in order … →

Our second day started out with breakout sessions to discuss how PAA can better support our chapters and affiliates. We came up with a number of great ideas and some volunteers to work on them. The final session began with a presentation on Poverty and Education by PAA Board member Nate Harris. Nate shared some statistics on the issues confronting low-income students and a review of some of the federal programs that are designed to address some of these needs. … →

The Parents Across America 2014 Leadership Conference was an exciting, productive meeting. 20 of PAA’s chapter and affiliate leaders from 13 states all over the U.S. attended, discussed the issues, and offered their ideas for PAA action for the coming year. Early arrivals to the conference were able to spend most of the day Monday meeting with Congressmen and Senators on Capitol Hill, including some of their own representatives and members of the House and Senate education committees. We focused … →

PAA was delighted to spend an evening with members and friends in Washington DC honoring the amazing work of our co-founder, Leonie Haimson, at the first annual Parent Voice Award dinner. Our hosts at the National Education Association provided a beautiful atrium setting for the dinner. PAA founding member, the legendary Helen Gym, leader of PAA Philadelphia affiliate Parents United for Public Education, emceed the event, where the attendees were welcomed by NEA community outreach specialist Cynthia Kain. Cynthia spoke … →

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 … →