If you picked up the Globe this morning, you’d think that charter schools are dying in Massachusetts and people across the Commonwealth are ready to burn them all down. I laughed out loud to read this frankly bizarre mash-up of stories attempting to paint some kind of grim picture of charters across the state, because it’s literally the farthest thing…
Parent Voices: Guns in schools: Nope, not the answer
By Kim Rivera After another horrific mass shooting in America, we are left with the same questions. Why did this happen? Could we have prevented this tragedy? Besides the shooter, who is to blame? And what can we do in the future to stop this from happening? Because a mass shooting anywhere, especially in a school, is the kind of…
I am a Mom. We are in the charter lottery this week. Wish us luck.
It’s the first week of March — and once again, I am sitting on a throne of pins and needles that I am forced upon year after year. I don’t like it here. And frankly, I’m tired of it. The seconds continue to tick past, marching forward toward my moment with destiny — which will happen on Friday afternoon at…
The day has come, but we are still here. And we are still standing strong together.
Today is March 5, six months to the day when U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions announced an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Today was the day the Obama Administration’s program to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation was set to end. In the past five years, nearly 800,000 young people had benefited from DACA, through…
PARENT VOICES: Charter School Lottery Time …
By Kim Rivera, Massachusetts Parents United This week marks a critical time for parents in Springfield and across the state of Massachusetts who are considering enrolling their children into a different school for next year: the application period and blind lottery selection process for many public charter schools. You’ll hear a lot of different opinions on charter schools depending…
Por favor, No Maten a Mis Hijos
Las aulas llenas de niños están siendo ejecutados diariamente en escuelas de todo Estados Unidos y no, nos importa. Yo sé que esa oración te está haciendo sentir realmente incómodo en este momento, pero ¿no es tiempo ya de ser honestos? Claro, sientes que es increíblemente injusto y cruel- pero ¿sabes qué más es injusto y cruel? Niños asesinados a…
Worthless to Who?
Last week I read Jack Schneider’s problematic piece in Commonwealth Magazine — another ode to the death of testing. (Jack, by the way, is the co-host of union-funded EduShyster’s podcast and is the director of the union-backed Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment.) Schneider writes books from a perspective we would expect — one from a person who thinks the…
A Note from The Coach
(Brian Bass is the Director of Organizing for Massachusetts Parents United. He’s “the coach” for our parents leaders, providing them the skills they need to be more effective when organizing in their own communities. I’ve known Brian for years — we’ve worked on a ton of campaigns across the Commonwealth together. But even though he’s one of the most talented…
Please Don’t Kill My Children
Classrooms full of children are being executed on a near-daily basis in schools across the United States and we don’t care. I know that sentence is making you really uncomfortable right now, but isn’t it just time to own it? Sure, you feel like it’s incredibly unfair and mean — but you know what else is unfair and mean? Kids…
Trust Parents
Why don’t we trust parents? Why are we so scary? You know you need us. We’re ready to do the work. But for some reason, we trust everyone BUT parents when it comes to advocating for children and families. Take for instance — this week where we learned where former Boston Mayoral candidate Tito Jackson will end up: He has…