In response to Katie Osgood’s post, “A Message to Reformers,” Maureen Reedy wrote the following:
“Katie, Diane and Friends,
I am loving your article Katie, it is right on in every way.
No more! No MORE!!! NO MORE!!!!
I have contacted Ed Schultz, a production company in California, Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow who teaches at Ohio State, state senator and superintendents in Michigan, I have a panel ready to go with the media when we get someone to pick up the ball and run with it.
I have been in touch with Parents Across America about a project based on “Hands Across America,” where, state by state, we join together, simultaneously, on the same weekend afternoon, and celebrate public education and present the cold, hard facts of privatization to the public, across America… remember “This land is your land, this land is our land?”
I have been relentless since running for state rep in Ohio as former Ohio Teacher of the Year and being kept out of the Statehouse by a malicious 1.5 million dollar ad campaign the last 2 weeks of the election of which Michelle Rhee was a player. I am determined to join others and take action from the Outside/ In where ever, whenever and however we can.
As a 29-year veteran educator and supporter/supervisor/facilitator for over 250 IEP/IAT meetings in my elementary school each year, you have got it right!!!
These are perilous times for our kids who are fragile, vulnerable and at risk. Taking the experts out of the equation and ping-ponging children across town in the name of for-profit avarice and greed is destroying our children and their crucial connection to community.
We ALL have momentum and the power to get moving on CIVIL / HUMAN rights issue of our time, namely, protecting our children and preserving public education.
It is time to take action from the Outside/ In.
Keep contacting people in a position to bring Katie’s facts to light, keep going with reaching your contacts, newspaper columnists, talk show hosts, etc.
Keep moving with your words, your expertise, your stories, your ACTIONS.
Keep doing what you can to save our children and public education.
Thank you Katie, thank you Diane, thank you to all friends who are fighting for our precious children, the real victims of corporate reform.
Maureen Reedy
Parent/29 year Public School Teacher
Columbus, Ohio
Time For Action Update…
Hello Friends and Patriots for Public Education,
Parents Across America, Public Schools Across America and NEIFPE (Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education) are joining together for the first 4 state regional planning meeting for Preserving Public Education on February 23rd in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Featured speaker:
Indiana State Superintendent Glenda Ritz, newly elected pro-public education superintendent! Read more about Supt. Ritz here.
Evite below:
http://publicschoolsacrossamerica.eventbrite.com/#
Attention public education supporters in:
OHIO MICHIGAN INDIANA ILLINOIS
Would you like to join with others in our 4-state region in coordinated, collective action to support our public schools?
Parents Across America, Public Schools Across America and NEIFPE (Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education) invites you to “Public Schools Across America,” a 4-state Regional Action Planning Meeting.
These are exciting times! Across the country, there is a rising chorus of protest against corporate-style school reform. Parents, teachers, students, principals, superintendents, scholars, school board members, civil rights lawyers and other concerned citizens are voicing opposition to the privatization of our schools which threatens the future of our children and the fundamental democratic principles upon which our system of public education is based. With “Public Schools Across America,” we hope to create a model for coordinated regional action in support of public education which may be expanded and replicated across the U.S.
• Who: You are invited! And please share this invitation with others interested in regional joint action in support of public education (even if they are not in our region – as long as they are able to get themselves to Ft Wayne).
• What: The first “Public Schools Across America” Regional Action Planning Meeting.
• Where: Ft Wayne, IN, chosen because it is located within a reasonable drive from all 4 states, and is FULL of public education activists!. We will meet at the Plymouth United Church of Christ, conveniently located at 501 W Berry Street in Ft. Wayne.
• When: Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 from 12 noon to 5 pm (snacks provided).
• Why: To share our concerns about attacks on public education, how we have addressed them locally, and to consider joint activities across our 4 state region and potentially across the United States to strengthen public education.
Thank you for all you do in support of our public schools and our children. Hope to see you in Ft. Wayne!
Julie Woestehoff, executive director, Parents United for Responsible Education (Chicago)
Co-founder of Parents Across America
E-mail: pure@pureparents.org
Maureen Reedy
Co-Founder, Public Schools Across America
Public school parent & 30 year public school teacher
Ohio Teacher of the Year, 2002
Email: Maureen.reedy@gmail.com
NEIFPE (Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education)
http://neifpe.blogspot.com/