Public school parents in Albany, NY breathed a sigh of relief late in the evening of May 17th when word came that voters passed the proposed school budget. This was despite an unprecedented effort by the leadership of the Brighter Choice Foundation, which controls all eleven existing charter schools in Albany, to have the school budget defeated. Many Albany homes received three anonymous mailings over the past several weeks urging a “no” vote on the school budget, as well as … →

It’s not enough that school districts across the country are laying off teachers right and left and increasing class size to intolerable levels.  It seems that the DC think tanks are absolutely dedicated towards further encouraging this trend and destroying any efforts to retain equitable class sizes in our public schools. Last week in the Daily News, Chester Finn of the conservative Fordham Institute attacked the whole notion of class size reduction, proposing that putting kids on computers instead would … →

The Chicago Tribune didn’t publish PAA’s own letter about parent trigger laws, even though their April 29th editorial specifically slammed our position. But a few days ago they did print this letter from one of the unions involved in the only parent trigger shoot-out so far: This is in response to your April 30 editorial “Parent power.” When you refer to the McKinley Elementary School petition in Compton, Calif., as “parent-powered, child-focused,” you ignore the fact that the petition was … →

Many have wondered why the corporate reformers in charge of school districts in NYC, Chicago, and elsewhere are so eager to undermine the quality of education in our public schools, in favor of charter operators that drain our public school system of resources and space.  Myron Miner of Last Stand for Children First gives us the inside scoop: This week the Illinois Chapter of Last Stand for Children First joined students across the state in celebrating historic legislation that is … →

Below is testimony from Julius Tajiddin, a NYC public school parent, on the issue of co-locating charter schools in Newark public school buildings, a practice that has led to bitterness and division among NYC parents.  An Independent Budget Office report, showing that in NYC,  co-located charter schools receive more public funds per student than district public schools is here. _____ I learned last night that Newark New Jersey’s School District is under the NJ Governor’s  Control.  Oh boy!  Anyway I … →