Some state boards of education are holding “listening tour” events over the next few weeks as they work on their state plans for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act. Many have already finished “round one” of such sessions and are preparing draft state plans to put out for public comment beginning in January 2017. If you read about PAA executive director Julie Woestehoff’s experience at such an event in Wyoming, you might wonder if going is a waste of time. … →

What do you think about this cautionary tale from John Harris Loflin, leader of PAA affiliate Parent Power in Indianapolis??? It was Monday morning. I reached down and got the Indy Star off the porch. I said “Good morning” and she returned the greeting. I have known Sue for over 15 years as a neighbor and now as a fellow parent. She and DeAndre have 2 boys, and my wife Molly and I also have a son. As I went … →

PAA interim executive director Julie Woestehoff attended a U.S. Department of Education-sponsored “Community Roundtable” on the Every Student Succeeds Act held today in Casper, Wyoming. The comments she intended to present are below. However, the event was far from the promised “listening session in which the public is invited to share ideas and provide meaningful input.” USDE is required by law to meaningfully involve the public, to listen to public concerns, and to adjust policies based on that input or … →

We had a great webinar, “Our Children @ Risk: Challenging the EdTech Juggernaut,” earlier this evening. There was so much important information and a very useful discussion. The slides, which include many helpful links, can be accessed here. The webinar recording  on You Tube is here – the audio is a bit garbled at times but mostly pretty good. Please also make sure you look at the reports and fact sheets PAA has prepared for parents and others to share. … →

The guest for PAA’s next book club session in our Poverty, Race and Education series is the wonderful Jesse Hagopian, Seattle teacher and editor of “More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing.” To prepare for this session, “Let’s Get Real about Leveling the Playing Field,” you can: buy and read Jesse’s book watch his terrific TedX Talk on alternatives to standardized testing, and/or read some of his articles here or here, for example. Jesse reframes education in … →

Our guest for this next PAA book club session is the wonderful Jesse Hagopian, Seattle teacher and author of “More Than a Score.” To prepare for this session, you can: buy and read Jesse’s book watch his terrific TedX Talk on alternatives to standardized testing, and/or read some of Jesse’s articles here or here, for example. Jesse reframes education in a way that supports all students and addresses the inherent racism in so much of current school policy and…

Join PAA activists and national experts to learn more about the negative effects of EdTech and what parents can do to slow down the digital learning juggernaut in your children’s schools. Sunday  October 16  7 pm ET Panelists: Jean Rogers: Screen Time manager for Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Rachael Stickland: Co-Chair, Parent Coalition for Student Privacy Cheri Kiesecker and Emily Talmage: Nationally-known bloggers on digital learning (Missouri Education Watchdog and Save Maine Schools) PAA leaders Heather Hicks and Laura … →

PAA urges parents and others to take a moment whenever you see a mention of digital learning in your local newspaper to write a letter to the editor to help educate the public about some of the many concerns raised by EdTech. Here’s an example, written by PAA interim executive director Julie Woestehoff and published earlier this week in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Feel free to “borrow” any of it!   As the heavy push for so-called “personalized learning” moves … →

by Julie Woestehoff, PAA interim executive director It has been more than 10 years since I and many of my former colleagues began warning Chicago that massive school closings would not improve education and would most likely lead to increased violence. It gives me no pleasure to see that this prediction has come true, and to such a tragic extent. We began to sound the alarm about school closures in 2004, as Mayor Daley and Arne Duncan touted their Renaissance … →