Newsletter
PAA Action News
Sept. 26, 2013


Welcome to PAA Action News, the information and action newsletter of Parents Across America.
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PAA Action Alert

Go Away TFA
Go Away TFA
Share the video "Go Away TFA!"

PAA Portland OR leader Deb Mayer created this great video, "Go Away and Stay Away TFA!" which has been posted on the Great Schools  for America web site.

Deb introduces the slideshow this way:

Teach for America, Inc. is the flagship of the education reform movement. The organization replaces professional teachers with unqualified college grads in the classrooms of some of our nation's most disadvantaged children. This practice harms students and the teaching profession. It must stop!

The video is short. It's cute. It has snappy music. And it's completely serious. Please watch and share!

More good stuff to watch

Friend of PAA Monty Neill of FairTest notes that an excellent documentary, "Schools That Change Communities," is being re-broadcast on PBS World stations on Oct. 2 at 2 AM, 10 AM and 4 PM.

The schools are a mix of urban, suburban and rural, all focused on place-based education. If you have not seen it, look for it on your local PBS station.

"Defies Measurement": Film concept to consider supporting

Documentary filmmaker Shannon Puckett recently wrote to PAA:

Hello! I am a huge fan of Parents Across America and I'm a great admirer of your effort to inform parents about the truths behind testing and for offering a place where parents can learn more about how to take action!!

So, I'm writing to you to let you know about a documentary I'm making about how high-stakes testing and the corporate reform agenda has been destroying our public schools. I have made a clip of the film and just launched a Kickstarter Campaign to get funding for completion. Featured in the clip are bits of interviews I have had with Diane Ravitch, Linda Darling-Hammond, David Berliner, David Kirp, teachers and students.... I think the people who follow (PAA) will be interested in the work that I'm doing....I have included two links you could use. The first is a link to my Kickstarter page and the second is a You Tube video of the same film clip I used on my Kickstarter page.

 
PAA and PAAers in the News

NPE, Ravitch endorse PAA founding member
for school board


From PAA President Dora Taylor:

 

"A national spotlight has been cast on the Seattle School Board race this year as candidate Sue Peters wins the support of former U.S. Undersecretary of Education, Dr. Diane Ravitch.

 

"The local parent and education journalist has also been endorsed by Ravitch's national organization, the Network for Public Education. 'Help elect Sue Peters to Seattle School Board, a champion of public education,' Ravitch (recently) tweeted to her thousands of supporters.' "

 

Sue is a founding member of PAA.

 

PAA is seeking non-profit status as a 501c3 and does not endorse candidates. NPE has formed a 501c4 for that purpose.

 

More on the Seattle race including all the candidates' platforms here

 

Read the rest of Dora's blog here.  

 


PAA co-founder Leonie Hamson on Huffington Post Live


PAA co-founder and head of NYC's Class Size Matters Leonie Haimson joined Broader Bolder's Elaine Weiss, early childhood expert Nancy Carlson Page and professor and parent Nicholas Tampio in a discussion of the shortcomings of Race to the Top on this segment of Huffington Post Live.      

 

Join us!

If you share
our overall goals of progressive, positive education reform and more parent input in education policy making, we invite you to affiliate with us if you are an existing group, or to form a new PAA chapter. The more of us there are, the stronger our voice will be at every level. Here's how!
PAA Blog Highlights

Keep up with our blog for more news and commentary on public education from the parents' point of view.

For more....
If you have questions, comments, suggestions or stories to share, please e-mail us at [email protected] or visitwww.parentsacrossamerica.org.

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