Mary Ann Stewart's Blog

Personal blog, written from my various perspectives: parent; elected Lexington Town Meeting Member (2006-2021); issues advocate and activist; board member Media Literacy Now (2013-2020), Progressive Democrats of Mass, and Parent Representative on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Older posts go back to Lexington School Committee (2009-2014) and Massachusetts PTA President days (2008-2012). Blog content mine, unless otherwise attributed. All comments moderated.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Media Literacy

Media is powerful.

Today's media landscape has dramatically changed over the last decade and our children are now living in a world of 24/7 media.

Results of a national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed (2010) that

Minimum Wage

Throughout the week of July 22-26, 2013 the Kids Count Blog focused on issues related to the impact of low-wage work on families with children in Massachusetts. I posted on behalf of Mass PTA. There were great contributions all week! Read my July 25 post at the following link: Living within the Minimum Wage::Reality Check.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Convention Swag

I was a delegate to the 2013 State Democratic Convention in Lowell, MA - lots of good materials from advocacy groups and candidates for Congress in the CD5 and Governor/Lt. Governor (so far...)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

An Army of Advocates

Members of Mass PTA in DC, March 2013

Even before the financial crisis of 2008, many of our children were attending inadequately funded and over-crowded schools. Silent Auctions, Spring Fairs, and the like, are great community-building events that also raise money to shore up some budget shortfalls, but they can only go so far.

What I'm Reading Today

On this grey, rainy Saturday...