A Virginia parent speaks truth to Arne Duncan
by pureparents
We welcome our first chapter in Virginia, PAA-Roanoke Valley, and its leaders, Laura Bowman. Here’s the story Laura told us about why she wanted to start a PAA chapter:
I think it’s so important to have a parent group in my area speaking up in support of our public schools, teachers, and students. I believe that high stakes testing and the education reform movement have hijacked our schools and turned them into testing factories. In Virginia we have the SOLS–the Standards of Learning. While I believe it’s important to evaluate teachers and students, they are more than their test scores. I have so much to say on the subject but I think I will let you read what I said to Arne Duncan in September, 2012. He came through Roanoke on a bus tour. Roanoke was his last stop before returning to his home in northern Virginia. He had a town hall meeting at our local community college. That morning I decided to go to the meeting. I quickly wrote up something to say and sat close to a microphone down front. Students from the community college asked great questions about higher ed and I let them all ask their questions first as higher ed was the focus of the meeting. The president of the community college said the question time was over and the mayor would speak. I stood and asked if Mr. Duncan would take one more question. The president reluctantly said yes. So I stood up and said the following:
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Thank you for coming today.
I’m the PTA president at my son’s school just down the road here in Roanoke County. We have great schools here and one of them was just made a Blue Ribbon School. I’m not speaking on behalf of the PTA today, just as a concerned parent. However, as PTA president many people in this community share their
