Join PAA’s Dora Taylor and Steve Norton with Kyle Serrette of the Center for Popular Democracy in our May 5 webinar on charter school accountability Did you know that President Obama has asked for an extra $120 million for charter schools in his FY16 budget? The increase would bring the total amount of federal funds for charter schools to $375 million, a 48 percent increase over last year. Overall, Congress has spent $3,352,841,281 to create and expand charter schools. Yet … →

On Sunday, April 26, 2015, PAA presented a comprehensive workshop on “The Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity” at the Network for Public Education conference. In addition to our power point presentation, we shared printed materials with many of the key points, charts and data from the presentation. These materials may be used freely – we just ask that you leave PAA’s name on them. We want to thank Dr. Paul Thomas for bringing most of … →

The Testing Resistance and Reform Spring Alliance, of which PAA is a member, is calling for a day of action for ESEA and testing next Wednesday, April 8. On that day we are asking you to call your Senators and, if you tweet, send out and retweet others’ Twitter messages using the hashtag #CutFedTests. Why should you speak up about ESEA? Reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA- formerly No Child Left Behind or NCLB) is moving … →

Here are PAA’s ESEA legislative position papers, listed from most recent to oldest: PAA position on Senate ESEA proposal (Feb. 2015) PAA position on HR 5, the House ESEA bill (Feb. 2015) PAA position on a new ESEA: What parents value and how Congress should act (Feb. 2015) PAA endorses Michigan parents’ statement on ESEA and teacher preparation (Feb. 2015) PAA position paper on real parent choice (Jan. 2015) PAA statement on ESEA and testing (Jan. 2015) PAA on student … →

We encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email in the fourth box on the right>>>>>>> but if you missed this week’s issue, here’s summary: Actions of the week Sounds like a broken record, but ESEA is still moving — though a bit slower then first thought (it was supposed to be done by now!) and we need to be a part of the debate. 1) Use this handy form from FairTest to contact your Senators on … →

We encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email in the fourth box on the right>>>>>>> but if you missed this week’s issue, here’s summary: Actions of the week: 1) There’s still time to contact your Congresspeople on ESEA, and now is an especially good time to reach out to them on testing. Here are the details, and a handy form from FairTest to use to contact your Senator about grade-span testing. 2) Listen to and/or share … →

Last night’s webinar was informative, disturbing, and energizing! Here’s the link to listen in on the program for those who were not able to join us last night, or for anyone who wants to get a second look at the data and other resources we provided. We want to thank Dr. P.L. Thomas, who has become something of a mentor to PAA, for his significant role in the webinar. Also contributing were PAA leaders Nate Harris, who moderated the webinar, … →

  Sign up for our March 2, 8 pm ET webinar on the Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity   Join PAA Board member Nate Harris, Dr. Paul Thomas of Furman University, and other PAA leaders for this webinar building on a great session we had on this topic at our July 2014 national conference. Dr. Thomas blogs at “Radical Scholarship” and has published many important  books on the corporate takeover of education, parental choice, teaching … →

PAA has prepared this chart on some of the key elements of the proposed “Every Child Ready for College or Career Act of 2015” sponsored by Senate education committee chair Lamar Alexander. This is the Senate’s current version of a reauthorized No Child Left Behind Act, or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). We expect them to move on this bill in the next few days, so please share this with your Senators NOW! We have faxed the chart … →

We expect the U.S. House to vote on their version of a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as soon as next Tuesday, Feb. 24. Please share PAA’s position paper on this bill with your Congresspeople this week while they are still in their home districts for the Presidents’ Day break. You can find your representatives’ contact information here. PAA position paper on HR 5, the Student Success Act (revised ESEA) February 2015 Downloadable pdf version of this chart … →