Stand 2012 Overview.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Stand 2012 Overview.Pdf We believe all children deserve an equal opportunity to succeed in life. Education is the key that unlocks the door to success but far too many children, through no fault of their own, aren’t getting the education they need to make it in life. We at stand are passionately committed to righting this wrong. OUR MISSION IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL CHILDREN, REGARDLESS OF THEIR BACKGROUND, GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED FOR, AND WITH ACCESS TO, COLLEGE AND CAREER TRAINING. TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE Educate and Advocate for Ensure the Elect empower effective policies and courageous parents, local, state funding we leaders who teachers and and national advocate for will stand up community education reach for our members to policies and classrooms priorities. demand investments. and help excellent students. schools. * Electoral activities are conducted exclusively by Stand for Children or one or more of its affiliated political committees. Stand for Children Leadership Center does not endorse or otherwise support the election or defeat of any candidate for elective public office. FOUR YEAR GOALS By the end of 2015, Stand for Children’s efforts will help prepare more than 1.5 million students, over 80% of whom are low-income, to be successful in college or career training. We’ll do this by: ADVOCACY Playing a key role in enacting, across our network, at least 75 education solutions at the state and district level that help prepare students to succeed. ELECTIONS Helping elect more than 200 education champions to school boards and state legislatures in strategic races across our network. EMPOWERMENT Helping over 15,000 low-income parents become more meaningfully involved in their children’s education. TO ACHIEVE THESE KEY OBJECTIVES, STAND FOR CHILDREN WILL: • Expand from 10 to 16 states and grow from 18 to 40 targeted school districts. • Increase sustainability by building up a four month overall cash reserve and two months of working capital and ensuring Stand’s state affiliates average 11 months of positive cash flow. • Ensure that at least 80% of our employees are highly engaged as measured by our Employee Engagement Survey. * Electoral activities are conducted exclusively by Stand for Children or one or more of its affiliated political committees. Stand for Children Leadership Center does not endorse or otherwise support the election or defeat of any candidate for elective public office. OUR NATION IS AT RISK +1 MILLION More than 1.2 million U.S. students drop out of school every year. 1 IN 10 Of the 13 million children growing up in poverty today, only 1 in 10 graduate from college. NEARLY 50% Close to 50 percent of students in low-income communities will not graduate from high school. OUR THEORY OF CHANGE: HOW TO IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES LEVER 3 ELECT+LOBBY+ADVISE ENACT Decision makers LEVER 1 LEVER 2 LEVER 5 Unacceptable IMPROVED Empower parents ORGANIZE Parents, educators & status quo defended by Strategic IMPLEMENT STUDENT to support their entrenched interests community members education policies OUTCOMES children's education and investments LEVER 4 EDUCATE+PERSUADE APPROVE Voters ENGAGE+ADVOCATE “In order to attain the quality education opportunities that our kids deserve, we must build a movement that engages parents, community leaders and educators as strong advocates and support systems for our children.” – Kenya Bradshaw, Executive Director, Stand Tennessee * Electoral activities are conducted exclusively by Stand for Children or one or more of its affiliated political committees. Stand for Children Leadership Center does not endorse or otherwise support the election or defeat of any candidate for elective public office. Stand for Children Staff Members from 10 states. WHAT WE STAND FOR STAND MEMBERS, SUPPORTERS AND STAFF KNOW THAT TO HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED FOR, AND WITH ACCESS TO, COLLEGE AND CAREER EVERY CHILD NEEDS: • Access to quality pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten • Effective teachers and principals • High expectations and quality instruction tailored to their needs • A safe and supportive learning environment • Effective guidance and support to access college or career training TO MAKE SURE ALL CHILDREN HAVE THOSE NEEDS MET, WE NEED A SYSTEM OF HIGH QUALITY SCHOOLS THAT HELP STUDENTS STAY ON TRACK. STAND ADVOCATES FOR POLICIES TO ENSURE THAT SCHOOL SYSTEMS HAVE: • Effective leadership and oversight • Transparent information about performance • Sufficient funding, spent wisely READ MORE ABOUT ANY OF THESE TOPICS AT WWW.STAND.ORG STAND HAS 10 STATE AFFILIATES AND OPERATES IN 18 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THOSE STATES. Seattle Tacoma WASHINGTON Portland Salem Eugene OREGON MASSACHUSETTS Boston Worcester Springfield Chicago Indianapolis Denver Aurora ILLINOIS INDIANA COLORADO Nashville ARIZONA TENNESSEE Memphis Phoenix TEXAS LOUISIANA Austin Houston Baton Rouge New Orleans “We absolutely have to have groups like Stand for Children, to do the hard, hard work of advocating for reform and making sure it happens in states and districts across the country.” – Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education “One of my favorite things about [Stand for Children] is being able to witness the moment when a parent realizes that they are a powerful voice for their child.” – Liliana Hutcheson, Organizer, Stand Arizona STAND HAS MORE THAN 135 EMPLOYEES, OVER 250,000 SUPPORTERS AND A COMBINED 2012 501C3 AND 501C4 OPERATING BUDGET OF $20.5 MILLION.* AFFILIATE, YEAR FOUNDED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STAFF SUPPORTERS 2012 BUDGET* ARIZONA, 2009 JOHN FISHER 9 17,331 $994,541 COLORADO, 2009 PAUL LHEVINE 9 18,171 $1,428,867 ILLINOIS, 2010 MARY ANDERSON 11 34,665 $2,085,621 INDIANA, 2011 LINDA ERLINGER 9 14,911 $1,332,560 LOUISIANA, 2012 RAYNE MARTIN 5 1,361 $1,062,628 MASSACHUSETTS, 2003 JASON WILLIAMS 12 55,861 $3,362,138 OREGON, 1999 SUE LEVIN 7 40,201 $925,174 TENNESSEE, 1999 KENYA BRADSHAW 12 30,822 $1,374,129 TEXAS, 2011 JEREL BOOKER 9 7,400 $900,067 WASHINGTON, 2007 SHANNON CAMPION 10 23,202 $1,233,533 *Dollar figures reflect combined C3 and C4 expense budgets. Does not include Political Action Committee revenue and expenses. Financial Honors: Four Star Rating from Charity Navigator & Guide Star Exchange Seal Great Place To Work: Oregon Business 2011 & Opportunity Knocks 2010 SINCE 1999, STAND HAS ACHIEVED OVER 165 STATE AND LOCAL VICTORIES AND LEVERAGED OVER 3.8 BILLION DOLLARS EDUCATION INVESTMENTS. THESE POLICIES AND INVESTMENTS ARE IMPROVING THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 4 MILLION CHILDREN. JUNE 1, 1996 1997 1999 2000-2002 2003 Over 300,000 people Stand volunteers organize 133 Focus shifts to grassroots Launch affiliates in Idaho and Move headquarters to attend “Stand for Children “Stand for Healthy Children” organizing to achieve systemic South Carolina. Portland, Oregon. Day” rally in Washington DC rallies across the country to changes for children. organized by the Children’s support passage of federal Play key role in passage Launch affiliate in Defense Fund. Children’s Health Insurance Launch affiliates in Oregon, of Portland Children’s Initiatives Massachusetts. Program legislation. Tennessee, and Maryland. which has provided millions of dollars per year for proven early 2003-2004 JUNE 3, 1996 Organize first Stand Chapter childhood, after school and child Key rally organizers Jonah Close affiliates in Maryland, in Salem, Oregon. abuse prevention and foster care Idaho, and South Carolina Edelman and Eliza Leighton programs. found Stand for Children as in order to target states an ongoing organization. with greatest potential for statewide impact for children. CONTINUED 2007 2009 2010 2011 2012 Begin advocating for policy changes in Launch affiliates in Arizona Launch Illinois affiliate. Launch affiliates in Indiana and Texas. Launch affiliate in Louisiana. addition to investments in order to increase and Colorado. our positive impact for students. Help pass an Act Relative Help pass Senate Bill 7, in partnership Help pass Senate Bill 1424 Work with State Senator to the Achievement Gap in with Advance Illinois and Mayor Rahm in Arizona, which will Develop bill to create New Educator Mentoring Mike Johnston and key Massachusetts which raises Emanuel, which ties teacher tenure, improve charter school Program in Oregon in partnership with New partners to pass Senate the cap on charter schools layoffs, and placement to performance, quality by raising standards Teacher Center. We lead the passage of the Bill 191, groundbreaking in low-performing school streamlines the teacher dismissal and increasing rigor of bill to provide mentors to first and second year teacher evaluation districts and has already process, enables Chicago Public Schools charter school authorizing teachers to improve new teacher performance legislation, in Colorado. given 35,000 students to lengthen its school day and year. process and increasing and retention. access to high performing Public Charter School charters. Ensure a pro-progress majority on the Board’s ability to close low Launch Washington affiliate. Denver School Board by helping elect performing charters. two education champions to the school board. * Electoral activities are conducted exclusively by Stand for Children or one or more of its affiliated political committees. Stand for Children Leadership Center does not endorse or otherwise support the election or defeat of any candidate for elective public office. STAND FOR CHILDREN, INC. 501(c)(4) BOARD OF DIRECTORS Emma Bloomberg (Chair), Senior Planning Officer, Robin Hood Katherine Bradley, President, CityBridge Foundation F.
Recommended publications
  • Texas Teaching Commission Report: Recommendations for the Next
    2012 TEXAS TEACHING COMMISSION Recommendations for the Next Generation of Teaching Policy in Texas TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter From Chairman Moses And Vice-Chairman Nelson ......................................2 Texas Teaching Commission Members ....................3 Introduction Addressing Our Future And The Changing Nature Of Teaching In Texas ..........4 – 5 Organization Of The Report .....................................6 Teaching Continuum Recommendations Commission’s Foundational Elements And Recommendations .....................................7 – 9 Setting The Course For Great Teachers Section 1: Recruitment And Preparation ..10 – 14 Section 2: Hiring ........................................15 – 17 Supporting Professionals In Their Practice Section 3: Inducting ..................................18 – 20 Section 4: Evaluating .................................21 – 31 Section 5: Developing ...............................31 – 34 Cultivating Careers Section 6: Strategic Compensation ...........35 – 38 Section 7: Retention ..................................38 – 40 Aligning The Teaching Continuum .................41 – 42 Endnotes ...............................................................43 Appendix: Resources/Bibliography ................44 – 46 LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN MOSES AND VICE-CHAIRMAN NELSON As former Commissioners of Education, we have seen firsthand the power of great teaching and its impact on a child’s life. We are fortunate in Texas to have a dedicated group of over 300,000 individuals who have answered the call to become
    [Show full text]
  • Supporters of the GREAT Teachers and Principles Act
    Supporters of the GREAT Teachers and Principles Act • NewSchools Venture Fund • Kate Gagnon, Editor, Jossey-Bass • Chaouki Abdallah, Provost, University of New • Carlos A. Garcia, Superintendent, San Mexico Francisco Unified School District • Academy for Urban School Leadership • Deborah Gist, Commissioner, Rhode Island • Achievement First Department of Elementary and Secondary • Cami Anderson, Superintendent, Newark Public Education Schools • Jason Glass, State Director & Chief Learner, • Aspire Public Schools Iowa Department of Education • Baltimore City Public Schools • Peter C. Gorman, former Superintendent, • Black Alliance for Educational Options Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools • Boston Plan for Excellence • Green Dot Public Schools • Boston Teacher Residency • Jane Hannaway, Director, Education Policy • Brooke Charter Schools Center, The Urban Institute • Business Roundtable • Michael E. Hansen, Superintendent, Fresno Unified School District • Brook Byers, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers • Phyllis Hudecki, Secretary of Education for the • Capital Teaching Residency State of Oklahoma • Pamela S. Carroll, Dean, College of Education, Kevin Huffman, Commissioner, Tennessee Oklahoma State University • Department of Education • Center for American Progress Action Fund • IDEA Public Schools • Chalkboard Project • Johns Hopkins School of Education • Charter School Growth Fund • Marcus P. Johnson, Superintendent, Sanger • Chiefs for Change Unified School District • Citizen Schools • Jason Kamras, Chief, Office of Human Capital, • Civic Builders District of Columbia Public Schools • ConnCAN: Connecticut Coalition for • Joel Klein, former Chancellor, New York City Achievement Now public schools; senior advisor, News • DC Prep Public Charter School Corporation • John Deasy, Superintendent, Los Angeles • Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Unified School District • Leadership Public Schools • Democrats for Education Reform • Mastery Public Schools • DonorsChoose.org • MATCH Charter Public High School • Charlene Drew Jarvis, Senior Advisor, Jarvis Co.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lift Every Voice and Lead Toolkit: a Community Leader's Advocacy
    THE LIFT EVERY VOICE AND LEAD TOOLKIT: A Community Leader’s Advocacy Resource for K-12 Education UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute THE LIFT EVERY VOICE AND LEAD TOOLKIT: A Community Leader’s Advocacy Resource for K-12 Education Author: Meredith B.L. Anderson, Ph.D. Acknowledgments The author would like to thank Sekou Biddle, Naomi Shelton, Charles Thompson III, Krysten Reid, Kameelah Shaheed-Diallo, Jonathan Atkins, Ashley Miller, Brittany Harris and Ashley Kearny who provided great feedback on previous drafts and outlines. Bloomberg Philanthropies (www.bloomberg.org) generously funded the research for this brief. Suggested citation: Anderson, M.B.L. (2017). The Lift Every Voice and Lead Toolkit: A Community Leader’s Advocacy Resource for K-12 Education. Washington, D.C: Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, UNCF. © 2017, UNCF. All rights reserved. Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................3 Education Talking Points and Facts .............................5 10 Tips for Community Engagement and Advocacy ......8 Advocacy in Action ......................................................11 Sample Template for Writing an Elected Official ......13 Conclusion ...................................................................14 Appendix ......................................................................15 Quick Guide: K-12 Advocacy Checklist ......................17 Endnotes ......................................................................18 UNCF is elevating awareness
    [Show full text]
  • Who's Who in a Growing Education Reform Movement
    who’s who in a growing education reform movement who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s who’s who in a growing education reform movement who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s It’s no coincidence that as reform organizations proliferate the movement accelerates: the mission of such organizations is to build and mobilize a constituency for change. who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s 3 History of the Advocacy Sector A CIVIC VOICE IN THE STATEHOUSE Prichard’s founders recognized that a … constituency made up of leading citizens … was essential to sustain any commitment to reform over time. A Nation At Risk who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s 4 THE NEXT GENERATION EMERGES They brought fresh thinking to the reform movement, adopting strategies such as voter engagement and mobilizations tactics employed by … more sophisticated advocacy sectors. A MOVEMENT TAKES HOLD who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s 5 who’s who in a growing education reform movement education reform a growing in who who’s 6 In states where we are seeing the biggest wins, a coalition of groups has been a crucial factor.
    [Show full text]
  • 2011 Annual Report
    2011 ANNUAL REPORT OUR MISSION IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL CHILDREN, REGARDLESS OF THEIR BACKGROUND, Dear Friend, GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED FOR, AND WITH ACCESS TO, A COLLEGE EDUCATION. It has been an exciting year for Stand. With the launch of new Stand affiliates in Texas and Indiana, we are reaching more To make that happen, students than ever before. We have also accelerated our impact by helping to enact or implement legislation to improve staff and volunteers of Stand for Children teacher effectiveness in seven of our ten* state affiliates. Leadership Center, a 501(c)(3) public charity, and Stand for Children, Inc., We are particularly inspired by Stand’s renewed focus on helping students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. a 501(c)(4) membership organization: Stand staff are actively engaging with parents and teachers in Three years ago, Stand set out to dramatically increase our organizational impact. We committed that districts like Chicago, Boston, Houston, Memphis, and by the end of 2011, we would play a key role in enacting education policies and investments at the state Indianapolis to uncover real problems and identify solutions and district levels to impact the lives of over 1.6 million children. We pledged to grow from four to ten Educate and empower parents, that work in those communities. states, and from 40,000 to 160,000 supporters. teachers and community members Thanks to hard work by our talented staff and volunteers, tremendous support from our National Boards, to demand excellent schools. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of Stand’s staff, volunteers, and supporters for their relentless Advisory Boards, and other generous donors, we met and exceeded these goals.
    [Show full text]
  • A-234 (GSE) and HLE-349 (KSG)
    Version 1.1 UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Department of Public Policy PP225: Education Policy and Educational Inequality, Fall 2014 Instructor: Prof. Meredith Phillips 6323 Public Policy Building 310-794-5475 [email protected] Office Hours: Mondays, 12:00-3:00 p.m., Public Affairs 6323 (Sign up on office door.) Class Meetings: Wednesdays, 2:00-4:50 p.m., Public Affairs 4357 Description: This class provides a broad survey of the literature on social class and ethnic disparities in academic success and the policies that might help reduce those disparities. Although we will focus on the U.S. educational system, you are welcome to write your final paper on a policy or policies that might improve educational outcomes for “disadvantaged” students abroad. Likewise, although we will focus on the pre-K through twelfth grade years (we simply do not have enough time to cover higher education, too), you are welcome to write your final paper on a policy or policies that might improve low-income students’ access to, or academic success in, college. Format: Class periods consist of a mix of lecture, discussion, and student presentations. Purpose: The course has three goals: 1. To introduce you to the major arguments for and against a number of education policies; 2. To help you learn how to evaluate the logic and evidence behind various policies; and 3. To help you learn to develop evidence-based, persuasive arguments. Prerequisites: In order to understand and evaluate the evidence in some of the lectures and readings, you will need to have a conceptual understanding of regression analysis and be able to interpret regression tables.
    [Show full text]
  • Child Care and Head Start Organizer's Toolkit 2005
    Child Care and Head Start Organizer’s Toolkit CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND 2005 For additional information contact the Early Childhood Development Division at (202) 628-8787 or [email protected] M I S S I O N The Children’s Defense Fund’s Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adult- hood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds. M O V E M E N T For more than 30 years, CDF has been building a movement that stands for children. This means leading the way through research, education, advocacy, and organizing. MEETING CHILDREN’S NEEDS Child Health Access to comprehensive, quality, affordable health care services for all children. Child Welfare & Mental Health Advocating for children who are abused, neglected, homeless, or suffer from emotional and other problems. Early Childhood Development Quality, affordable child care; pre-kindergarten programs; and after-school activities for working parents.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 Annual Report Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Signs “An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap”, the Landmark Education Reform Legislation
    Annual Report 2010 2 | 2010 Annual Report Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signs “An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap”, the landmark education reform legislation. WHAt We STAnd FOR Empowering, entrepreneurial leadership We’re relentless in our drive to empower Stand volunteers and staff, and we continually push ourselves to innovate and improve in order to accomplish more and more for children who urgently need our help. Results for all children Every single child matters, and children’s lives and futures are being shaped right now. That’s why we maximize every day, every dollar, and Being the change we seek We show up. We speak up. We reach out. We vote. Active participation makes every person involved in Stand for Children to create a just society where our member-driven organization work and enables us to make our democracy all children get the excellent education and support they need to thrive. work for children. Bold independence In a political arena dominated by parties and adult focused special interest Direct and respectful communication We communicate directly and with respect at all times, which enables us to be groups, we’re non-partisan and child-focused. We fearlessly challenge the transparent, foster learning, and create long-lasting, accountable relationships. status quo in pursuit of solutions that help children thrive. MISsion STATEMENT MISsion STATEMENT Stand for Children is a 501(c)(4) Stand for Children Leadership membership organization that uses Center is a 501(c)(3) charitable the power of grassroots action to organization that develops leaders help all children get the excellent who use the power of grassroots public education and support they action to help all children get the need to thrive.
    [Show full text]
  • Addressing Indiana's Quiet Teaching Crisis
    Addressing Indiana’s Quiet Teaching Crisis: A Sensible Blueprint for Progress Three recommendations for the Indiana General Assembly based on the voices of Indiana’s teachers by Public Impact Executive Summary EACHERS ARE THE most important in-school factor for a child’s learning,1 and the effect of each teacher is long-lasting.2 With so much at stake for each child and our society T during the K–12 years, state leaders must make the teaching profession as attractive as possible to today’s workforce and organize it to produce the lofty outcomes we seek for students. To accomplish this, Indiana’s state leaders have taken steps in recent years to promote the creation of career ladders for teachers as well as yearlong residencies for teachers-in-training. The Indiana General Assembly’s efforts have promoted important concepts, but they have yet to establish funding to help districts, schools, and teacher preparation programs redesign existing models. In addition, educator salaries have fallen markedly in real terms, and the resulting disparity with competing states and comparable professions has contributed to higher turnover and a dwindling teacher candidate pipeline. Data about the teaching profession in Indiana make clear the potential for a full-blown public crisis unless policymakers take decisive action this year. Indiana teacher pay dropped 15 percent between 2000 and 2017 when adjusted for infl ation, moving from $59,986 to $50,554—and Indiana teachers earn 17 percent less than college graduates in other fi elds.3 As a result, Indiana’s pipeline of new teachers is drying up, with a 60 percent drop in individuals entering Indiana’s teacher preparation programs from 2008–09 to 2013–14.4 Ninety-two percent of Indiana districts struggle to fi nd qualifi ed candidates for teacher openings.5 This means that as a new school year begins, administrators become willing to hire anyone into remaining slots.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Text/PDF
    Natural Allies or Natural Enemies? The Evolution of Participant Self-interest in Community-based Organizations Michael Evans Miami University Abstract Diverse families are increasingly turning to community-based organizations (CBOs) as a means to further support their children‘s education. In particular, CBOs appear to be effective at mobilizing families that diverge from the so-called norm in order to influence educational change. Research indicates that these organizations can have a positive impact on student outcomes but as independent actors, their relationships with schools remain complicated since they operate outside of school and district control. In order to better understand the dynamic relationships that emerge between educators and diverse families in CBOs, this paper uses an ethnographic case study approach to explore the initial motivations for participation of members in three different CBOs and the process that they use to determine their shared actions. The findings revealed that while individuals‘ initial involvement was primarily based on self- interests, strong network ties, and perceived organizational effectiveness; the strategies and initiatives that were eventually implemented were more broadly defined and addressed larger systematic issues. In addition to offering diverse families an alternative means for engaging with schools, participants became committed to broader educational change making the potential for school and CBO partnerships more likely in the future. 21 Family involvement is widely accepted as a means for improving student outcomes across a variety of academic and social measures (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). As a result many district, state, and federal policies now require schools to work on improving family involvement efforts. Most schools have responded to these policy demands by continuing to pursue or revise traditional family involvement practices that focus on transactional interactions with families.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Reform from the Grassroots How and When Parents Can Shape Policy
    Education Reform from the Grassroots How and When Parents Can Shape Policy Michael Hartney July 2014 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Foreword heavily state and local affair, education politics is challenges, or the lessons they are learning about mobi- A a unique area of American civic life. Entrenched lizing parents in search of policy change. AEI Education interest groups tend to have an outsized impact on has been at the forefront of efforts to better understand mayoral races and school board elections, which this new phenomenon. endows them with substantial control over what hap- Two years ago I, along with Drew University polit- pens in schools and classrooms. And these elections are ical scientist Patrick McGuinn, released one of the often less competitive and suffer from low rates of voter first in-depth looks at parent organizing for edu- turnout. For school reformers seeking to improve the cation reform in Parent Power: Grass-Roots Activ- status quo by promoting standards and accountability, ism and K–12 Education Reform. We found, among teacher effectiveness, or school choice policies, these other things, that while parents who sent their chil- political dynamics paint a bleak picture: powerful inter- dren to schools of choice were ripe for mobilization, ests dominate local elections, and local elections dictate the mere act of choosing a school did not by itself the direction of school policy. make parents activists. Rather, ERAOs had to work Education reformers have long recognized these to equip parents with the necessary tools and training structural obstacles to change and have made real prog- to effectively lobby policymakers.
    [Show full text]
  • EDUCATION FINAL LAYOUT-7-30.Indd
    Appendix A Task Force Forums and Commissioned Papers ver the last 18 months, the Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future National Task Force on Public Education has examined the current state of America’s public education Osystem. The Task Force has sought to identify practices that contribute to American students’ uneven performance, areas in which important student needs are going unmet, and examples of excellence that are boosting student achievement. To do so, the Task Force held six public forums across the country and commissioned fi ve papers from leading education researchers, advocates and policymakers. Insights gained from these events and papers have informed the Task Force’s recommendations. Forum reports and copies of the commissioned papers are available online at: http://www.americanprogress.org/schools or http://www.ourfuture. org/issues_and_campaigns/education/ros_sof.cfm Public Forums Community Schools: Working Together to Address the Needs of All Children Portland, Oregon - August 27, 2004 This forum focused on community schools and highlighted Oregon’s Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Initiative. Established to create stronger relationships between public schools and their larger communities, the SUN Initiative has shown success in providing needed services and programs for children, including in-school support teams and after-school programming, uniting communities around public schools and improving test score levels. Discussion ranged from partnerships and implementation, to cultural competency, to parental outreach and involvement. This forum provided a constructive conversation on the strengths and challenges of community schools and the need for strong relationships with local agencies, organizations and businesses. Speakers at this forum included: • Susan Castillo, Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction • Jonah Edelman, Executive Director, Stand for Children • Barbara Kienle, Director of Student Services, David Douglas School District • Diane Linn, Chair, Multnomah County Commission • Lolenzo T.
    [Show full text]