This past Tuesday, a group of North Carolina parents and educators asked our local school board to stop giving a set of federally mandated tests known as Measures of Student Learning (MSLs). Essentially, we are calling on our board members to consider civil disobedience. It is a lot to ask. But we believe the situation is dire enough to warrant it. The MSLs rolled out this past spring with disastrous results, especially at high schools, where the bulk of tests … →

We were delighted when teacher/author John Owen asked for a book jacket blurb from PAA, and even more thrilled to see that he concludes “Confessions of a Bad Teacher” by recommending that people join Parents Across America as a first step in addressing the concerns raised in the book. He even includes our What Works/What Doesn’t Work statement (see page 232). The book went on sale on August 7. The publicity material calls it “The book ‘school reformers’ don’t want … →

What you can do about some of the hot issues in public education Here’s a list of actions PAA co-founder Julie Woestehoff, of Chicago’s Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), shared at last week’s Democracy Convention in Madison: Track federal ESEA reauthorization (PURE and PAA have news services to help you – see below). The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) expired in 2007 but Congress has yet to agree on how to fix it. Unfortunately, the “bipartisan” take … →

PAA affiliate MecklenburgACTS.org joined several thousand other activists for the final “Moral Monday” protest against the broad range of ALEC-driven legislation enacted in the just-concluded session of North Carolina’s legislature. In a sweeping series of bills, state legislators lowered taxes on corporations and wealthy residents, while cutting education, health care, unemployment and a wide range of other programs. They also took aim at many basic rights, enacting one of the nation’s most stringent set of voting restrictions as well as … →