Feeling overwhelmed by all the negative legislation and education policies being imposed by corporate reformers on your school or district?
On Monday night, February 20th at 8 PM EST, Parents Across America will be sponsoring a conference call, open to all parents and concerned citizens, to brief you on strategies you can use to fight back against the damaging tide of privatization wreaking havoc our public schools.
When: Monday, Feb. 20 at 8 PM EST.
Conference Dial-in Number: (424) 203-8075
Participant Access Code: 1037540#
First, hear from Karran Harper Royal, a PAA founding member, about what’s happening in New Orleans, where about 75% of the schools are charters and before too long, they may all be privatized. Rather than the idealized picture portrayed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the corporate reform crowd, this has led to nightmarish experiences for many children who no longer have the right to attend their neighborhood school, and are often forced to travel hours each day on buses which their parents have to pay for especially if attending higher-performing schools.
Discrimination is especially fierce against students with disabilities. This is the future that children in many parts of the country may face if the privatizers get their way. Hear what Karran and other parents are doing to fight back, and about the lawsuit they have filed with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Then, Dora Taylor and Sue Peters, founders of PAA- Seattle, will describe how the state of Washington is experiencing the fourth push in 15 years to authorize charter schools. Washington is one of only about ten states in which charter schools are still not legal. Though the research doesn’t support charters, the backers of this campaign have deep pockets — including the Gates Foundation and the operations they fund, includingStand for Children, Inc., Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), and the League of Education Voters. Parents are also facing a barrage of potentially damaging “teacher evaluation” bills in the legislature.
The corporate reformers’ strategy is to bypass the voters and push these bills through, inundating the session with multiple bills in ‘whack a mole’ tactics. Sue and Dora will talk about how they are organizing other parents throughout the state, working with other stakeholder groups, and helping to disseminate the truth about charters and teacher evaluations to prevent these bills from being passed – in Bill Gates’ own backyard.
If you have a question in advance, please send it to info@parentsacrossamerica.org
