Give Kids Good Schools Campaign Urges Public to “Learn, Vote, Act!”

“When it comes to the importance of improving our public schools, Americans do get it,” said Wendy D. Puriefoy, president of the Public Education Network, at the recent launch of multi-year campaign – Give Kids Good Schools – which intends to build a constituency of Americans who will use their voices and votes to achieve the goal of quality public education for all children. “Give Kids Good Schools will offer the American public the information and power they need to make public education a priority on Election Day and every day,” Puriefoy said.

Give Kids Good Schools grew out of research that found people generally support public schools and, while willing or eager to help efforts to improve them, are not sure what they can do. Give Kids Good Schools aims to help the public stay informed about issues that have an impact on public schools and to provide ideas for taking action to improve schools in their communities.

PARADE Magazine Story

The August 27th issue of PARADE magazine featured an article about districts in which public and community engagement has resulted in improvements in the quality of education children receive. As Lee Kravitz, editor-in-chief of PARADE, said, “Groups of dedicated, hard-working people have found inventive ways to turn their schools around and have built a strong foundation, not only for their students, but for the future health of their communities.” Give Kids Good Schools, which was featured in the article, hopes to engage communities across the country to create similar results for all children.

Give Kids Good Schools Week in October

The heart of the campaign is Give Kids Good Schools Week, which will be held October 16-22 this year. Give Kids Good Schools and the Public Education Network’s affiliates and partners across the country will help organize community events that will provide community members with ideas and opportunities to help their local public schools.

To help organizations prepare events and encourage participation, Give Kids Good Schools provides a wealth of resources, including public service announcements, advertisements, web banners and buttons, flyers, and newsletter and magazine articles. Through the information it provides, the campaign hopes to “spread the word that individuals have the power to make a difference in their public schools.”

What Makes Quality Public Schools?

According to the campaign, there are eight characteristics that make quality public schools succeed: (1) high expectations for every student; (2) parent and community support; (3) qualified teachers; (4) rigorous curricula and fair assessments; (5) sufficient resources for students; (6) a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment; (7) classrooms equipped with up-to-date textbooks, technology, and other teaching resources; and (8) strong school leadership.

In order to help parents and community members advocate for these goals, Give Kids Good Schools provides extensive resources on its new website. The website, which urges people to “Learn, Vote, and Act,” is designed to help people find information about their local school districts, learn about issues facing public education in their communities, be informed when voting in local, state and federal elections, and make their voices heard through action.

Prepared September 14, 2006