October 5, 2015
Getting Students Ready with College and Career Ready Standards
Standards: 5 Pillars of Successful Implementation provides information on planning an advocacy strategy to impact the adoption, implementation, assessment and accountability of College and Career Ready Standards in states. National PTA, in partnership with the Learning First Alliance, has outlined five areas where states must focus in a communications strategy called “Get it Right” to ensure the higher standards have the supports needed for successful implementation.
Webinar: Assessements and Score Reports: What Parents Need to Know
When: Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
Featuring: Lucille Davy, senior advisor for the Hunt Institute
Lucille will review the key changes in standards, assessments and score reports along with Bill Jackson, CEO and founder of Great Schools and David Park, EVP of strategy and communications for Be A Learning Hero.
Space is limited so register today!
National PTA will raffle five $100 Amazon gift cards to the child’s school of randomly selected attendees. Winners will be notified by Oct. 23 via email.
ESEA-NCLB Reauthorization Update
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), recently expressed optimism that the
ESEA-NCLB reauthorization will be completed and sent to the president’s desk before the end of 2015.
Conference committee members (“conferees”) have yet to be named. A Washington Post article stated that key members of Congress do not believe that House Speaker John Boehner's retirement will significantly impact the odds of a successful reauthorization of the ESEA-NCLB.
Due to upcoming changes in the leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, National PTA joined nine other national education organizations to reemphasize the need for a successful reauthorization of ESEA.
Introduction of the Homework Gap Bill
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In an effort to decrease the ever-growing achievement gap, a new bill was introduced in Congress—HR 3582—by Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT) and David McKinley (R-WV).A “homework gap” is the gap between students with reliable Internet access and those without. These students face more difficulties completing their assignments at home which leads to a widening of the achievement gap.
The bill—also supported by National PTA—attempts to address this gap by supporting the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative strategies and methods to increase out-of-school access to digital learning resources for eligible students.
Improving Funding with the "Keep our PACT Act"
National PTA recently endorsed the “Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act” or “Keep our PACT Act,” which will provide full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and for Title I in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Many education programs have suffered funding cuts due to sequestration and are still being funded below pre-sequester levels. We believe in funding public education at the necessary levels to ensure all children have access to a quality public education.
Celebrating Bright Spots in Hispanic Education
National PTA is pleased to announce that California State PTA, Ninth District PTA—serving San Diego and Imperial counties in California—and Georgia Hispanic/Latino Statewide Community PTA have been recognized by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics as Bright Spots in Hispanic Education.The Bright Spots in Hispanic Education designation honors accomplishments and a strong commitment to improving the educational attainment of Hispanics from cradle-to-career. As Bright Spots, California State PTA, Ninth District PTA and Georgia Hispanic/Latino Statewide Community PTA are featured in a national online catalog.
In the News
Sept. 30, 2015
Sept. 30, 2015
Sept. 18, 2015
On the Blog
On the Blog
Sept. 29, 2015
Sept. 22, 2015
Sept. 14, 2015
Advocate of the Month
National PTA’s advocate of the month for October is Syvonne Forkin. Syvonne is one of the most prolific members of National PTA’s Takes Action network.
Over the past few years, Syvonne has contacted her members of congress numerous times on behalf of children and families all across the nation. You can be a great advocate like Syvonne too by signing up for the PTA Takes Action network!
Nominate an Advocacy Award Winner
Do you know someone or a PTA doing great advocacy work in their communities? Nominate an advocate or association for one of National PTA’s four advocacy awards today!
- Outstanding Youth Advocate of the Year
- Shirly Igo Advocate of the Year
- State PTA Outstanding Advocacy Award
- Local/District/Council/Region PTA Outstanding Advocacy Award
Making a Difference with Think It Up
Student-Powered. Teacher-Led. Crowd Funded. Great things are about to happen in public schools across America. Think It Up is helping to fund student-led projects in grades 7-12. If you have an idea and need the financial resources to make your project a reality, enter your proposal now!
Submit your project ideas today!
Nondefense Discretionary Letter Signing Spells Success
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National PTA would like to thank the following state PTAs for signing on to the NDD United letter:Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The letter urges members of Congress to #RaiseTheCaps on nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs and find a compromise to replace sequestration with a balanced approach to deficit reduction.
The final letter was signed by over 2,500 national and state organizations and was sent to Capitol Hill and released to the media on Sept. 10.
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