We are a group of concerned parents,
grandparents, teachers, students, and community members fighting for:
- An excellent, well-rounded, and engaging education for ALL of Oregon’s public school students.
- An end to high-stakes testing used for student, teacher, or school evaluation.
- Teacher, family, and community input that informs public education policy.
- Equitable and well-funded schools that support students and classrooms first.
- An end to corporate education models and top-down government mandates which threaten a strong, democratic, public education system.
We are also an affiliate of Parents Across America. PAA advocates for the following:
WHAT WORKS:
Proven Reforms: We support the expansion of sensible, , such as pre-K programs, full-day Kindergarten, , parent involvement, strong, , a well-rounded curriculum and evaluation systems that go beyond test scores.
Sufficient and Equitable Funding: Resources do matter, especially when invested in programs that have been proven to work.
Diversity: We support creating diverse, inclusive schools and classrooms whenever possible.
Meaningful Parent Involvement: Parents must have a significant voice in policies at the school, district, state and national levels. We are not just “consumers” or “customers” but knowledgeable, necessary partners in any effective reform effort.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK
Privatization: A strong public education system is fundamental to our democracy. We oppose efforts to privatize public education through the expansion of charters, vouchers or other privately-run programs at the expense of regular public schools.
High-Stakes Testing: Excessive reliance on standardized exams narrows the curriculum, promotes teaching to the test and leads to unfair and unreliable evaluations of students, and schools.
School Closings: Closing schools wreaks havoc on families and communities, and too often fails to deliver on promises to create better opportunities for children. We believe in improving the schools we have, rather than shutting them down.
Ignoring Poverty: The nation’s educational “crisis” is made worse by the widening gap between rich and poor. Along with investing in our schools, we should also be investing in families.