John Merrow has created a challenge for himself. Every year on his birthday, he sets a goal of cycling the same number of miles as his age. This year he turns 78, so his goal is to bike 78 miles.
He invites his friends to make a gift of $78 or some multiple of 78 to a recommended charity. This year he includes the Network for Public Education on his list (as he did last year).
I just donated $780 to NPE in honor of John’s birthday.
This is a generous tradition. Thank you,John Merrow.
This Tuesday on June 11 at noon at City Hall, Network for Public Education is co-sponsoring a rally with Class Size Matters and many other organizations to urge NYC to allocate specific funding in next year’s budget towards reducing class size; please come if you can and bring your kids; they have the day off from school.
Smaller classes have been linked with more learning and better student outcomes in every way that can be measured – students in smaller classes get better grades and better test scores, have fewer disciplinary problems, and graduate from high school and college at higher rates.
Meanwhile, NYC public schools have the largest class sizes in the state – and suffer from class sizes 15-30% bigger than students in the rest of the state on average. More than 330,000 NYC students were in crammed into classes of 30 or more this fall.
Here is a flyer with more information; please post it in your school and share it with others. And please attend the rally on Tuesday if you can!
Marla Kilfoyle reports on news from the NPE Grassroots Education Network.
More than 125 independent organizations from across the country are working to improve and strengthen public schools.
News item #1:
NPE Action National Conference – Save the Date – March 28-29 in Philadelphia, PA. The window is now open for workshop proposals for the Network for Public Education conference, March 28-29, 2020, in Philadelphia. I hope you all sign on to present on a panel and certainly we want all to attend. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NBCNDKK
Read the rest to learn what your friends and allies are doing.
Please open and read this action alert from NPE Action.
We urge all concerned citizens, parents, and educators to contact your Senators and encourage them to cut the budget of the federal Charter Schools Program (“charter slush fund”) and use the $440 million currently budgeted for Title 1 and the nation’s neediest children.
NPE wrote a report on the federal Charter Schools Program and documented that one-third of the charter schools it funded between 2006-2014 either never opened or closed right after opening. The percentage of failed charters was even higher in states such as California and Louisiana. The CSP is rife with waste, fraud, and abuse. The failed federally-funded charters wasted nearly $1 billion over a six-year period studied.
Charter advocates attacked the report but no one has pointed out a single error of fact. They don’t like it because it shows in accurate detail that the federal Charter Schools Program is awash in waste, fraud and abuse.
Some of the most prominent members of the House of Representatives signed a letter criticizing the Department of Education’s failure to exercise oversight of the CSP and calling on Betsy DeVos to provide oversight of the program and to update the CSP database, which has not been updated since 2015.
The CSP currently is funded at $440 million. DeVos asked to raise it to $500 million. The Appropriations committee of the House of Representatives proposed a cut of $40 million, reducing it to $400 million.
Make no mistake. This is Betsy DeVos’s charter slush fund. This year, she gave $89 million to the richly-funded KIPP, and $116 million to IDEA, which plans to open 20 charter schools in El Paso, which will swamp the local public schools. She also gave nearly $10 million to Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy chain, which is swimming in hedge fund money. The CSP is play money for DeVos. The whole program should be canceled. Charter schools are not needy. They do not need or deserve federal aid. Let the Waltons and Charles Koch and Bill Gates and Eli Broad and Reed Hastings and Michael Bloomberg pay for them.
Phyllis Bush, career teacher, education advocate, founder of the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education, board member of the Network for Public Education, was honored with a posthumous award by the 3rd District Democrats of Indiana.
A life well lived.
Public education advocate and activist Phyllis Bush, who died March 19 at the age of 75, was named this year’s recipient of the J. Edward Roush Service Award presented by the 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party.
The party honored Bush posthumously at an April 27 dinner at the Eagle Glen Clubhouse in Columbia City. The annual award is for “contribution of time, talent and treasure” to 3rd District Democrats, said Misti Meehan, Allen County Democratic chairwoman.
Bush had taught English at South Side High School in Fort Wayne, founded Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education and was a board member for the Network for Public Education.
Bush “demonstrated steadfast dedication to the betterment of the education system for all people,” Meehan said in her remarks at the dinner.
“Whether writing and organizing for the cause or holding a sign, Phyllis wanted people to know what is happening in their community. … She participated in any way she could and was always willing to help,” Meehan said.
Marla Kilfoyle, former National Executive Director of the BATS, is now in charge of the Network for Public Education’s Grassroots Education Network. She is an awesome organizer and has signed up more than 125 organizations from across the nation to work together on behalf of our public schools. This is her second newsletter.
Read it and see what your friends are doing. Then join us!
We are many, they are few.
Together, we are making a difference!
The Network for Public Education is very fortunate to have successfully persuaded Marla Kilfoyle, former national executive director of the BATS, to join us as our national coordinator of grassroots activities.
This is the first newsletter of our grassroots groups, created by Marla.
If your group wants to join, please contact Marla, so she can list your activities.
The link is in the newsletter.
Our followers are located in every state. Be sure that your state joins in the Network.
If you liked the NPE report ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL, released today by the Network for Public Education, please consider joining. It is free. We rely on donations. We believe in the power of numbers, combined with a small but amazing staff. If you sign up, you will get alerts about what is happening in DC and in your own state, where your participation can make a difference. You will be asked to send emails to your representatives when important matters are being decided.
If you want to become more active in the fight for better public schools and against privatization and high-stakes testing, we can direct you to local groups in your state. We have toolkits for civic action.
Our affiliate (Network for Public Education Action) endorses candidates for local and state elections.
We believe that people power can beat money power, when we are informed and organize. We are many, they are few.
Go to this link to learn more about what you can do and how you can get involved.
Our next national conference will be held in the spring of 2020 in Philadelphia. Stay tuned for details.
You can find “Asleep At the Wheel” here.
This is a message from theNetwork for Public Education.
2019 will be the year of the public school, with your help and support.
“From West Virginia to California teachers are boldly standing up for themselves, their students and their schools. Teachers are walking out due to a lack of sufficient funding, which has resulted in the deterioration of salaries, fewer services for children and increased class size.
“They are also making it clear that they understand why public school funding has been drained. Privatization schemes like charters and vouchers have made school funding a competition, not a public obligation.
“As Oakland Education Association President, Keith Brown, told the Washington Post:
More than $50 million is diverted every year to charter schools while our students have a 1,750 to 1 ratio for students to school nurses and 600 to 1 for guidance counselors. The charter schools that capture our dollars lack financial transparency and accountability standards…
“In West Virginia, teachers and school service workers had a two-day walk out to show their opposition to provisions in proposed legislation that would have created the state’s first charter schools and allowed vouchers in the form of education savings accounts (ESAs).”
Open the link to find the NPE toolkit, which shows how YOU can make 2019 the year of the public school.
Four outstanding people have joined the board of the Network for Public Education.
We are thrilled to welcome them and their energy and dedication to public schools.
Lavelle Jones, a lawyer and president of the New Jersey chapter of the AARP, has been a volunteer conference coordinator for NPE since 2014.
Denisha Jones, who recently earned her law degree, is director of Teacher Education at Trinity Washington University in D.C. She is active in the BATs and an expert on early childhood education.
James Harvey is director of the National Superintendents Roundtable, with a long history and involvement in federal education policy.
Roxana Marachi is a professor at San Jose State University in California and education chair of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP.
Please open the link to learn more about these wonderful new board members!
The Network for Public Education now counts 350,000 followers, residing in every state.
Marla Kilfoyle, former national executive director of the BATS, is joining the staff of NPE, bringing her brilliant organizational skills. Darcie Cimarusti–a school board member in New Jersey–is currently on staff, where she is in charge of research and communications.
And of course our executive director is Carol Burris, former high school principal, outstanding researcher and writer.
We do not have a physical address. We don’t waste money on rent, desks, chairs, etc. We have a Post Office Box. We are the very model of a modern organization, operating for the public good, with minimal expenses and high output.
If you want to support our important work, please visit our website or send a check to POB 227, New York, New York 10156.
We will stop the privatization of public schools! We will build resistance to high-stakes standardized testing! We will fight for better funding for our public schools. We will stand up for the needs of our students, teachers, and public schools.
We grow from strength to strength. We will have a fabulous 2019!
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