Open Letter to Stand for Children
We represent organizations across Massachusetts, including communities that Stand for Children now claims to represent. When a well-financed group like Stand for Children, backed by out-of-state and corporate money, arrives with a plan to “fix” our schools, but fails to consult with any of us or solicit our input, it raises deep concerns.
At a time when many of our organizations are struggling to provide essential services, or even to remain afloat, Stand spent more than $250,000 to essentially buy its way onto the November ballot—at $3 per signature—and still had enough money left to blanket the state with radio, television and newspaper ads.
We now learn that Stand is backed by corporate foundations connected to Walmart, Bain Capital and JP Morgan Chase, and that your ballot initiative would diminish community voice, strip teachers of their rights, all the while failing to deal with many of the real issues confronting our children.
Had you consulted with any of our organizations and community leaders, we would have told you what our children need: a fair and substantive opportunity to learn in a safe environment. This consists of a well-rounded curriculum that includes art, music, theater programs, vocational and technological training—not just test prep; an end to discipline practices that push our kids into the school to prison pipeline; and better programs, services and supports for our English language learners and special-needs students that respond to their genuine needs. Most of all, our communities need more and better jobs so that our kids believe that school actually leads to something.
Your ballot initiative addresses none of these needs.
We need a real conversation in Massachusetts about the best way to improve our schools, an honest, collaborative exchange that includes parents, students, teachers and the community. What we don’t need are phony sound bite “solutions” backed by big corporate money.
Stand: please respect our communities and withdraw your ballot question today.
Cristina Aguilera, Community Organizer, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition
Marya Axner, Executive Director, Jewish Labor Committee of New England
Cara Lisa Berg Powers, Co-Director, Press Pass TV & Community Organizer, Institute for Democratic Education – Worcester, MA
Louis Bernieri, Director, Andover Bread Loaf Teacher Network
Kathleen B. Boundy, Co-Director, Center for Law and Education
Russ Davis, Executive Director, Massachusetts Jobs With Justice
Debra Fastino, Executive Director, Coalition for Social Justice
Andrew Fischer, President, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Heloisa Maria Galvão, Executive Director Brazilian Women’s Group
Carla B. Jentz, Executive Director,
The Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education (ASE)
Juan Leyton, Executive Director, Neighbor to Neighbor MA
Jose Lopez, Co-chair, Coalition for Equal Quality Education
Reverend Jason Lydon, The Community Church of Boston
Judith Meredith, Executive Director, ONE Massachusetts/Public Policy Institute
Patricia Montes, Executive Director, Centro Presente
Monty Neill, Executive Director, FairTest
Reverend Aaron Payson, Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, MA
Roger Rice, Executive Director, Multicultural Education, Training & Advocacy, Inc
Marilyn J. Segal, Executive Director, Citizens for Public Schools
Horace Small, Executive Director, Union of Minority Neighborhoods
Aaron Tanaka, Executive Director, Boston Workers Alliance
M. Natalicia Tracy, Executive Director, Brazilian Immigrant Center
Gladys Vega, Executive Director, Chelsea Collaborative, Inc.
*Organizations listed for identification purposes only.
