» school privatization

Position paper: Why PAA opposes mass school closings

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Julie Woestehoff

What are mass school closings? Mass school closings occur when school districts decide to close large numbers of public schools in a community within a single year, citing a variety of reasons like “underutilization” or academic failure. These closures go far beyond the periodic need to close schools because of drops in a district’s school-age population. Rather, they result from policies pushed by the corporate education reform movement and its privatization agenda, and embraced by the U.S. Department of Education. … →

Stand for Children says Chicago LSCs make parent trigger unnecessary

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Julie Woestehoff

I was proud to share the Local School Council model with my co-founders at Parents Across America, and delighted when PAA adopted it as our alternative to the “parent trigger” school privatization mechanism. Unlike charter or private turnaround companies, LSCs have a significant track record of improving schools over time without any extra resources beyond the collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, administrators and community members. Now, to my astonishment, organizers for such pro-privatization groups like Stand for Children and New … →

Grassroots or astroturf? Parents, be aware!

Posted on June 7, 2012 by admin

Here’s just one example of the trickery that “reform” groups like Parent Revolution use to promote their school privatization agenda, from PAA-Florida’s Rita Solnet. Shirley Ford, a Parent Revolution organizer, while testifying to the Florida Senate Committee on its proposed “Parent Engagement” (parent trigger) bill, said that Parent Revolution was a grassroots group. Later, under questioning, Ms. Ford was forced to elaborate on her precise role with Parent Revolution, explaining that she was paid to organize parents involving the parent … →