PIE Network Guest

Stand for Children is an innovative, grassroots child advocacy organization. Our mission is to use the power of grassroots action to help all children get the excellent public education and strong support they need to thrive. Our members believe we need to stand up for our children now - particularly for their education from pre-school through high school - to create a better future for America.

We build effective local and statewide networks of grassroots advocates capable of convincing elected officials to invest in and reform children’s programs. Following specific priorities chosen by our national organization and ratified by our members, we focus on securing adequate funding for public schools and reforming education policies and practices to help children thrive academically, giving them the opportunities they need to become successful, productive citizens.

Visit Stand for Children Massachusetts.

• This spring, we will lobby the state Board of Education to change teacher evaluation guidelines to include student performance data as a part of the evaluation process.
• Pursue health benefit reform to make it easier for cities to adopt health plans that create cost savings (up to $400 mm overall possible savings) that can go toward public education funding.
• Over the long-term, we are pursuing the passage of new teacher effectiveness legislation in the 2012 legislative session.

Stand for Children played a key role in convincing the legislature to pass An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap in January 2010, doubling access to high-performing charter schools in the state’s lowest performing districts, fostering innovation throughout the Commonwealth, and giving superintendents targeted intervention powers to quickly turn around failing schools. This legislation lays the groundwork for reducing achievement gaps in Massachusetts and helped the state win a federal Race to the Top grant award.

Jason Williams
Executive Director

Media Contact: Rachel Kriete
(781) 786-2033

Twitter: @MassStand