
When CER’s first hard-copy
Parent Power! newsletter was released in 1999, it was focussed on helping parents “make sense of school” and arm them with the knowledge and tools they needed to become forceful advocates for their kids, their schools and even for change. We unleashed parents all over the country by talking about everything from standards, questions to ask your schools, whatever happened to penmanship (a personal favorite!) and how to teach boys! We delved into charters and choice, too and eventually went completely electronic. Some 23 years later, with the growth of others who took the baton to “do” parents locally, we refocused our energies on assembling all the best of policy prescriptions in one place to rank states and offer parents – and the public – a tool to learn, to judge their states, hold their leaders accountable and to get smart about what it takes to have top marks on the
Parent Power! Index. It’s a cool interactive tool now totally online, and we’d love for you to visit!
Mostly Virtual. Our mighty team of 13 is scattered throughout the country – from DC to California and in between. We’ve never not been somewhat virtual, but like everyone, Covid has challenged us. These days we’re popping in and out of a much scaled down office but are connected with all sorts of cool tech tools for communications and project management that my young classmates at UPenn taught me about 5 years ago! Thank God we were ahead of the curve.
I’m so proud of my team and what we’ve been able to accomplish, but there is so much more to be done. Here are two simple, free ways to help –