Guy Brandenburg writes here about the first conference of the Network for Public Education, just concluded in Austin, Texas.
Nearly 400 educators, parents, and activists met to brainstorm about how to roll back the corporate attack on public education.
It was huge, exciting, energizing, and the beginning of a new day.
The Network for Public Education national conference will meet in Austin, Texas, on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2.
You can join us by livestream.
The direct link to the site hosting the livestream is here:
http://www.schoolhouselive.org/
The conference hashtag is #npeconference.
Nearly 400 activist parents, educators, legislators, and other supporters of public education from across the nation have registered to plan for the future.
For more information about speakers and panels, check here.
I will speak Sunday morning and explain “Why We Will Win.”
The Network for Public Education enthusiastically endorsed Ras Baraka for the position of mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
Baraka is an experienced teacher and administrator, now a city councilman, fighting school closings and privatization. He stands strong for the children and people of Newark, not for the Christie administration and hedge fund managers seeking to disassemble and privatize public education.
Here is his education statement.
Veteran journalist Bob Braun writes about the race here. He views the race as a test of whether Newark voters support Christie’s plan to close their public schools.
Expect big money to pour into Newark from Democrats for Education Reform, B4NJKids, and other hedge fund managers and deep pocket supporters of corporate reform (school closings, charters, high-stakes testing). For more about the supporters of “reform” in New Jersey, read here. Learn about the billionaire who has made school reform his favorite pastime.
The Network for Public Education has endorsed City Councilman Ras Baraka for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a career educator who opposes school closings and supports reduced class sizes and other research based strategies.
We are proud to support him and believe that his election will begin a movement to restore democracy to education in Newark, whose schools have been under state control for nearly 20 years.
Come to Austin on March 1&2 and meet the True Reformers!
All your favorite advocates for children, teachers, and public schools will gather in Austin to share ideas and learn from each other.
Join us!
The Network for Public Education will holds its first annual conference at The University of Texas at Austin on March 1 & 2, 2014 – the weekend before the world famous South By Southwest EDU Festival. Diane Ravitch will deliver the keynote address and NPE Board members Anthony Cody, Leonie Haimson, Julian Vasquez Heilig and others will take part in the discussions.
All are welcome!
The Network for Public Education endorsed candidates who strongly support public education, oppose school closings, excessive testing, and privatization. Most of our candidates were underdogs, overwhelmingly outspent. Only Darcie Cimarusti ran unopposed. We are proud of all the candidates who stood up for kids against big corporate money and power. We congratulate them for their courage and tenacity.
Posted by Robert Perry
22 hours ago
The candidates endorsed by NPE are:
Lost Culver City School Board, CA
Claudia Vizcarra
El Rancho School Board, CA
Won José Lara
South Pasadena School Board, CA
Lost Suzie Abajian
Denver Public Schools Board of Education, CO
Lost Rosario C de Baca
Lost Michael Kiley
Lost Roger Kilgore
Lost Meg Schomp
Douglas County School Board, CO
Lost Bill Hodges
Lost Ronda Scholting
Bridgeport School Board, CT
Won Howard Gardner
Won Andre Baker
Won Dave Hennessey
Atlanta School Board, GA
Run Off Cynthia Briscoe Brown
Lost Ed Johnson
Run Off Mary Palmer
Lost Nisha Simama
Highland Park Board of Education, NJ
Won Darcie Cimarusti
State Assembly, NJ
Lost Marie Corfield
Centennial School District School Board, PA
Win Michael Hartline
Win Betty Huf
Win Jane Schrader Lynch
Tabernacle School Board, PA
Win John Bulina
Houston Board of Education, TX
Lost Anne Sung
Seattle School Board, WA
Won Sue Peters
In my earlier post about endorsements for public office, I inadvertently left off the names of two candidates who were endorsed by the Network for Public Education. As I said before, these are all candidates who want to strengthen and improve public schools.
The candidates endorsed by NPE are:
Culver City School Board, CA
Claudia Vizcarra
El Rancho School Board, CA
José Lara
South Pasadena School Board, CA
Suzie Abajian
Denver Public Schools Board of Education, CO
Rosario C de Baca
Michael Kiley
Roger Kilgore
Meg Schomp
Douglas County School Board, CO
Bill Hodges
Ronda Scholting
Bridgeport School Board, CT
Howard Gardner
Andre Baker
Dave Hennessey
Atlanta School Board, GA
Cynthia Briscoe Brown
Ed Johnson
Mary Palmer
Nisha Simama
Highland Park Board of Education, NJ
Darcie Cimarusti
State Assembly, NJ
Marie Corfield
Centennial School District School Board, PA
Michael Hartline
Betty Huf
Jane Schrader Lynch
Tabernacle School Board, PA
John Bulina
Houston Board of Education, TX
Anne Sung
Seattle School Board, WA
Sue Peters
The Network for Public Education doesn’t have any capacity to fund political campaigns, unlike the billionaires and millionaires who are trying to buy school board seats to advance their privatization agenda.
We endorse candidates, based on surveys of all the candidates on all sides and interviews with local education activists, parents and educators. The endorsement committee reaches its decisions carefully and thoughtfully, based on our principles described on our website.
This is our mission:
The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society. Our mission is to protect, preserve, promote, and strengthen public schools and the education of current and future generations of students. We will accomplish this by networking groups and organizations focused on similar goals in states and districts throughout the nation, share information about what works and what doesn’t work in public education, and endorse and rate candidates for office based on our principles and goals. More specifically, we will support candidates who oppose high-stakes testing, mass school closures, the privatization of our public schools and the outsourcing of its core functions to for-profit corporations, and we will support candidates who work for evidence-based reforms that will improve our schools and the education of our nation’s children.
Here are our endorsements
Atlanta School Board, GA
El Rancho School Board, CA
South Pasadena School Board, CA
Denver Public Schools Board of Education, CO
Douglas County School Board, CO
Bridgeport School Board, CT
State Assembly, NJ
Centennial School District School Board, PA
Houston Board of Education, TX
Seattle School Board, WA
The Network for Public Education has endosed candidates in several crucial local school board elections. NPE has a process that involves surveys of all candidates in each contest. We give our endorsement to those who support their community public schools and oppose privatization and the pernicious misuse of high-stakes testing.
We don’t have money, but we count on the help of all those who care about the future of public education to stand with those courageous enough to run for office. We count on the power if numbers, the power of democracy.
An Update on NPE’s Endorsed Candidates
Welcome to the twenty-third edition of our newsletter. This week we are pleased to announce FOUR new endorsements! We also have updates for you on our previously endorsed candidates.
New NPE Endorsements in Rochester, Bridgeport
We are pleased to announce the following endorsements:
Liz Hallmark, Rochester County School Board (NY)
Howard Gardner, Bridgeport School Board (CT)
Andre Baker, Bridgeport School Board (CT)
Dave Hennessey, Bridgeport School Board (CT)
The primaries in both Rochester and Bridgeport take place in two days, on September 10th, so please spread the word!
We are delighted to announce our endorsement of Liz Hallmark! Liz earned a Doctorate in Education at the University of Rochester and has worked as a teaching artist at schools throughout the Rochester City School District. Currently, Liz is an Adjunct Professor who teaches Masters-level teaching candidates at Nazareth College and the Warner Graduate School of Education.
As both an educator and a parent of two children who graduated from city schools, Liz firmly believes that it is time for there to be an educator on the Rochester City School Board, and NPE agrees! The Democratic Primary is on September 10th (only two days away) so spread the word. We invite you to read our full endorsement here and visit Liz’s website.
We are excited to announce our endorsement of three candidates for the Bridgeport Board of Education: Howard Gardner, Andre Baker, and
Dave Hennessey.
The September 10th primary in Bridgeport — Connecticut’s most populous city — looks to be a key contest in the battle for control of the school board. In recent years, politicians and school officials have enacted damaging reforms in Bridgeport and a change in the make-up of the board is necessary to correct the course of the school district.
Andre Baker, a four-term Bridgeport City Councilman, brings a political experience and history of working cooperatively with the diverse electorate of Bridgeport. Dave Hennessey served 38 years as a teacher and coach in Bridgeport and has also been a member of the Bridgeport City Council. Information Technology Professional, Howard Gardner, brings extensive business and community service experience to the race.
To continue reading about our endorsement of these candidates, click here. There are only two days left until the primary, so please spread the word!
An Update on NPE’s Endorsed Candidates
The summer is ending, but our candidates are still up and running!
This summer, NPE has endorsed several candidates. We thank all of our followers for helping to support these great candidates. As the summer comes to an end, we would like to give you a brief update on where our candidates stand:
Sue Peters is running for Seattle School Board, District 4. Sue has nearly a decade of experience in Seattle public schools.
This summer, Sue won 41% of the primary vote, despite being outspent by her opponent by 8:1. The general election will be held on November 5th. You can visit Sue’s website to read more.
Marie Corfield is running for New Jersey Assembly. As a mother and public school teacher, Marie is truly dedicated to protecting public schools and helping their students thrive.
This summer, Marie held the #CorfieldMoneyBomb, and we thank you for helping to make this fundraiser so successful! The general election will be held on November 5th. You can visit Marie’s website to read more.
Ronda Scholting is running for Douglas County School Board in Colorado. Ronda is a proud mom of two sons who graduated from Douglas County schools. She also works with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Last week, we wrote to you about the Koch brother’s plans to contribute thousands of dollars on her opponent’s campaign. Please help support Ronda by visiting her website. You can also RSVP here to see NPE’s Anthony Cody speak in Douglas County on September 12th.
