Welcome new Parents Across America chapters! Support PAA! | Parents Across America

Support PAA! | Parents Across America:

Philly affiliate files ethics complaint against foundation

by pureparents

Our Philadelphia founding member, Helen Gym, shared news reports that her group, Parents United for Public Education, and others have filed an ethics complaint against the William Penn Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group,  alleging that BCG was acting as a lobbyist when it developed a plan for the School District of Philadelphia including major  school closures and charter expansion, funded through and at the direction of the foundation. BCG would have been required to disclose their donors, many of … →

Welcome new Atlanta chapter!

by pureparents

Welcome new chapter, PAA-Atlanta/GA/Atlanta Public Schools! We’re delighted to welcome another new chapter, this one in Atlanta. Founder Kimberly Brooks is a former PTA president who is studying for her masters degree. Parents in Atlanta are discouraged by the well-known test cheating scandal and recent passage of charter school expansion laws in the state. They feel their voices are not being heard. Kimberly brings a lot of enthusiasm to our national network! You can contact her at kimberlybrooks.kim@gmail.com Welcome, Kimberly … →

Welcome new Michigan chapter!

by pureparents

Welcome new chapter in Utica, MI   We are excited to have a new chapter in Utica, Michigan, called Parents Across Utica Community Schools. They reached out to PAA for help with their Broad superintendent and a Board President who also runs a “virtual learning academy.” They are asking for our help – please “like” the Parents Across Utica Community Schools Facebook page and follow them for updates and action alerts. Their story, which follows, can be found in somewhat … →

Speak out about the school-to-prison pipeline

by pureparents

Yesterday, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin convened a hearing on the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a way of describing the way some school policies and practices may simply push students – particularly low-income students and students of color – out of school and into jail. Zero tolerance policies, school closings, high-stakes testing, and other factors contribute to this devastating situation. This was an unprecedented hearing, and, unlike the panels of corporate reformers we more often see gathered to share their positions, this time … →

Support PAA!

by pureparents

SUPPORT PAA!  Please use our Donate button to help us continue our important work supporting public school parents and children. 

Here are some effects of PAA’s parent power in 2012:

• PAA challenged parent trigger legislation and won (so far!) in Florida and across the nation.
• We preempted efforts to use the “Won’t Back Down” movie to push parent trigger laws; the movie was roundly panned as propaganda by film critics and ticket sales were dismal.
• We co-wrote and promoted a National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing which currently has nearly 14,000 individual and 470 group endorsers including school boards.
• We pointed out major flaws in standardized tests, most notably in Pineapplegate.“
• We reached out to Congress and to parents and the public with letters, fact sheets, and position papers on charter schools, testing, class size, budgets, and other key education issues.
• Our leaders published articles in such places as the book, “Educational Courage,” the New York Times, and the Washington Post and were quoted or interviewed in nearly every major national news outlet from People Magazine and USA TODAY to the Wall Street Journal and Education Week to NPR to CNN and MSNBC.
• Our chapters and affiliates had many local successes fighting corporate reform and supporting quality public education for every child. These stories can be found every week in our newsletter and on our new website, www.parentsacrossamerica.org, where parents can also join in an Action of the Week.

Perhaps the best indication of our growing strength is the near doubling of our chapters and affiliates, which now number 38 across 21 states. We welcome parents and parent-centered public school advocacy groups to join us as we raise our voices in support of our children and our schools.

Unlike asrtroturf “parent” groups, we are an all-volunteer organization with little funding for our expenses beyond individual donations. We need your support to continue raising parents’ voices in the fight for our public schools and our children’s education. Please give generously!