Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hoping 2012 will see a rebirth of parents movement

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Hoping 2012 will see a rebirth of parents movement:

Hoping 2012 will see a rebirth of parents movement

by Mike Klonsky

Thinking back to Chicago's dynamic school reform movement of the late '80s and early '90s (before mayoral control) and wondering if it's possible to capture that democratic spirit for change we all felt back then. That movement was sparked by parents who desperately wanted greater opportunities and equity for their children within the public schools system.

The last decade of conservative No Child Left Behind policies accompanied by the growing influence of corporate reformers and power philanthropists, has also produced a movement of conservative parent groups focused on banning books, school re-segregation, and attacking the teaching of evolution and multiculturalism. The coercive