We had a great teleconference earlier today with the amazing Helen Gym, a founding member of PAA who is now serving as a Philadelphia City Councilperson. You can listen to the full audio recording here. We also heard inspiring, challenging stories from new PAA Board members Zerlina Smith and Laura Bowman, and a some pretty chilling background on Betsy DeVos from Steve Norton, another PAA Board member whose role as an advocate in Michigan has given him a front-row seat … →

We had a great teleconference earlier today with the amazing Helen Gym, a founding member of PAA who is now serving as a Philadelphia City Councilperson. You can listen to the full audio recording here. We also heard inspiring, challenging stories from new PAA Board members Zerlina Smith and Laura Bowman, and a some pretty chilling background on Betsy DeVos from Steve Norton, another PAA Board member whose role as an advocate in Michigan has given him a front-row seat … →

*** Press release *** for immediate release August 15, 2017 Contact: Julie Woestehoff, Executive Director, 773-0715-3989 The press is also invited to join a teleconference with PAA members to discuss the survey results. When: Tuesday, August 15, 2017 1 pm ET Call-in number: 515-604-9727 access code 728537# National survey shows parents disagree with lawmakers’ approach to education “Too much of the current education policy making happens without any meaningful parent input, and often in complete opposition to parents’ priorities and … →

“Real Parent Voice – Real Parent Choice” Parents Across America’s National Parent Survey 2017 Executive Summary August 15, 2017 Parents Across America (PAA) recently carried out its first national parent survey, “Real Parent Voice – Real Parent Choice.” Our goal was to hear directly from parents about what really matters to them in public education, and to share their voices with our political and policy making leaders. 584 people from more than 33 states responded to the survey. Nearly all … →

3 Easy Things   Since it’s still summer and school has not yet started for most of us, we’re going to start PAA Week off with 3 Easy Things you can do from the comfort of your home to have an impact on education policy! Find out who handles education in your Senators’ and Congressperson’s office. We usually urge you to contact your elected officials directly, but we also know that they all have legislative aides who do most of the … →

The Freedom of Information Act (may be called something different in your state) requires government entities (publicly-funded bodies such as schools, school boards, charter school boards, etc.) to provide public information to anyone who requests it in a timely manner. Check your state’s attorney general web site or google Freedom of Information and your state’s name to learn any specific rules and parameters in your state. Government offices should have either a FOIA Officer, a Communications Officer, or someone else … →

We congratulate and thank Khem Irby, returning member of the PAA Board, and welcome new Board members Laura Bowman and Zerlina Smith. Khem’s bio is here, and you can learn more about Zerlina and Laura below: Laura Bowman has a child in the Roanoke County, VA public school system. She’s a fearless, unapologetic, and tireless advocate for children and public education and is the leader of Parents Across America-Roanoke Valley in southwestern Virginia. She’s held many offices in the PTA including … →

PAA Week schedule August 14-17, 2017 PAA is offering a virtual leadership conference during the week of August 14, 2017. All are invited to participate on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with Thursday’s session reserved for PAA member leaders only. Our goals for the week are: to promote a stronger parent voice in education decision making by presenting some of the results of our 2017 parent survey to encourage and support confident parent outreach to state and congressional legislators during PAA … →

“We’ve built a movement that will not only hold accountable people like U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos but will also lift up a vision of vibrant public schools and restore them to the center of our civic life.”  Helen Gym PAA founding member Helen Gym has had a remarkable year and a half since taking office as a city councilperson in Philadelphia. We receive regular emails with updates on Helen’s activities and accomplishments. This particular email from August 3 stood … →

Parents Across America-Roanoke Valley leader, Laura Bowman, spoke at a Virginia Board of Education Hearing in earlier this month. She shared parent concerns about student data privacy and standardizing and assessing children’s emotional quotients. She used some of the facts Rachael Stickland, co-chair of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, shared in her recent testimony before the US House Committee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, found here https://www.studentprivacymatters.org/rachael-stickland-testifies-before-the-u-s-house-subcommittee-on-early-childhood-elementary-and-secondary-education/. Laura gave the Virginia Board of Education a copy of … →