Can’t go to the SOS March? Here’s what you can do instead!
Thousands of people will be converging on Washington, DC this week to speak out in support of our schools at the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action.
Parents Across America members will be out in full force all week!
On Thursday we’re presenting the first of three workshops on “The New Parent Involvement,” and we’ll be meeting with members of Congress. We have packets prepared for them with the PAA position papers on ESEA reauthorization and on the recentHouse bill to expand charter schools. We will also share some fact sheets including “Why Tying Teacher Salaries to Test Scores Doesn’t Work,” a comparison chart of the relative success of reducing class size versus using Race to the Top strategies (no surprise – class size reduction works better!), and a summary of recent independent polling information showing a drop of 11% in the American people’s support for the Obama administration’s education policies since 2009 – now 33% give him a “D” or an “F”.
On Friday, we’ll be listening to Diane Ravitch and presenting workshops on class size and how to work for a better ESEA.
On Saturday, of course, we’ll be marching to the White House with Matt Damon and several thousand other people.
IF YOU CAN’T BE THERE, HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO!
Strengthen our voices in DC by adding your own. Please call or fax your Senators andCongressmen this week – Thursday would be best!
- Tell them that they need to listen to their constituents on ESEA, not to rich education hobbyists who have spent billions marketing a false image of our public schools and promoting ideas that are expensive and don’t improve education.
- Tell them that you oppose HR 2218, the charter school expansion law.
- Share your own experience with high-stakes testing, school closure, charter school encroachment, or other problems that have come about due to NCLB/ESEA.
You can use PAA’s summary points on ESEA below. You can find more information about many of these topics under the links provided.
Summary of PAA’s ESEA Position Paper, with links to further information
Parents Across America opposes:
- Policies that use standardized test scores as the most important accountability measure for schools,teachers or students, and/or expand the use of standardized testing in our schools.
- Competition for federal funds; a quality education is not a race but a right.
- “Parent trigger” laws, vouchers, charter takeovers or other forms of school privatization that take resources from the schools attended by most students and put them into private hands, with less oversight.
- Limiting federally-mandated school improvement models to a narrow set of strategies, including charter schools and privatization, which are favored by corporate reformers but which have had little verified success.
A new ESEA/NCLB must include:
- Sufficient and equitable resources in all public schools, so that every child receives a high-quality education.
- Improving schools rather than closing them, by means of evidence-based solutions backed by parents and other stakeholders.
- Less standardized testing, more reliable accountability and assessment practices, and the right of parents to opt their children out of standardized tests..
- Programs that encourage the retention of professional, experienced teachers.
- A full range of parent involvement opportunities including a stronger parent voice in decision making at the school, district, state, and national levels.
We need everyone to speak out this week – Thank you for adding your voice!