From our friends at the Children’s Screen Time Action Network, a project of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, comes the Screens in Schools Action Kit, released just today. In 2016, Parents Across America did a deep dive into the edtech movement. Since then, classroom digital device use by students has skyrocketed and increasingly, parents, students, and educators alike are voicing their concerns about the use, over-use, and misuse of these devices. Please download, read, and share the Screens in Schools … →

Parents Across America-Roanoke Valley leader, Laura Bowman, shared the following email with Virginia Delegates who are considering a bill on best practices for digital device use in public schools. As the use of digital devices in schools continues to grow at unprecedented rates, it’s vitally important that the parent voice is heard when it comes to the healthy and safe use of these devices by children. “On the Communications Subcommittee docket tomorrow morning, you will see Delegate Hope’s House Bill 817.  Parents … →

Education historian, professor, author, and founder of the Network for Public Education, Diane Ravitch, and education blogger, author, and retired educator, Nancy Bailey, co-authored a new book: “EdSpeak and Doubletalk: A Glossary to Decipher Hypocrisy and Save Public Schooling”. They kindly included Parents Across America in the chapter titled, ‘Groups Fighting Education Reform’. “Parents Across America (PAA): A nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization connecting U.S. parents and activists with workable ideas for improving public schools. Some of their issues are pushing … →

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) needs to hear from parents: We want our children’s privacy protected. The FTC may bow under the pressure of Big Tech and weaken COPPA regulations. COPPA is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, originally passed in 1998. Its purpose is to ensure online privacy protections for children under the age of 13 and it should be strengthened, not weakened. Parents Across America submitted the following comments to the FTC and we urge you to submit … →

Parents Across America endorses the Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates, found here. Through this endorsement, Parents Across America joins over 130 organizations nationwide who are demanding an end to practices and policies that infringe on the civil rights of students of color, disabled students, and LGBTQ+ youth and funnel them into the criminal legal system. We’re asking presidential candidates to commit to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, ending the privatization of our public schools, and ensuring civil rights protections for our … →

News from PAA’s Boston affiliate, QUEST: This past winter and spring, QUEST (Quality Education for Every Student) participated in multiple local advocacy coalitions that were active in the search process for a new superintendent of Boston Public Schools. QUEST and its coalition partners criticized the abbreviated search process and the lack of diverse parent and stakeholder representation on the search committee. But they came to believe that one candidate, Dr. Brenda Cassellius, former Minnesota commissioner of education, offered the best … →

Parents Across America board member and leader of Parents Across America-Roanoke Valley, Laura Bowman, attended a listening session yesterday headlined by the Commissioner of Virginia Department of Social Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The focus of the session was school readiness for Virginia’s at-risk three and four year olds. In July, 2019, Virginia’s Governor signed an executive order establishing the Executive Leadership Team on School Readiness. The Team is responsible for creating recommendations that would unify Virginia early … →

On June 21, the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) selected Teach for America alum and interim superintendent Alessia Johnson to be the district’s leader. She was preceded by Dr. Lewis Ferebee, a Broad Academy fellow who helped close and/or privatize Indy’s public schools and sell off the assets of IPS to the businesses, community, who is now the superintendent of D.C. schools. Parent Power predicts under the Johnson regime, IPS will mimic New Orleans and become a business-model privatized school district … →

From John Harris Loflin, a leader of Parents Across America’s Indianapolis affiliate, Parent Power Indianapolis: The hidden influence of Teach for America ideology on education in Indianapolis: A commentary on why Aleesia Johnson must not be Indianapolis Public Schools superintendent. Parent Power Indianapolis has published a commentary about the negative ramifications to Indianapolis Public Schools if interim superintendent Aleesia Johnson becomes the school district’s leader. They’ve connected the dots among Indianapolis’ Teach for America alumni (Indianapolis Public Schools interim leader … →

Deb Mayer, leader of Parents Across America-Oregon, is running for Portland Public School Director, Zone 3. While PAA does not endorse candidates, we’re thrilled to see one of PAA’s chapter leaders run for elected office, as several other inspiring PAA leaders have done over the past eight years. Deb has been endorsed by both Network for Public Education Action and Willamette Week. Here are Deb’s answers to the Oregonian’s school board candidate survey. Find Deb’s website and Facebook page, here … →