The Journey of a Thousand Meetings

September 12, 2014

Looking back, I will tell you that each step was borne of on-going curiosity, learning, and interest. I'm writing about it because it's important to reflect back. Parent voice is not only important, it is necessary on the issues that have an impact on our children, our schools, and our communities. I have been supported by family, friends, neighbors, community members, the PTA, and the Governor. I sincerely hope my experience and common sense - and curiosity to want to know and do more - will continue to serve our children's best interests and success.

When our eldest entered Kindergarten my husband and I joined the school's parent group - it happened to be a PTA, and we joined to get to know his teacher and school better, connect with students and families in his class, and generally, be engaged from the outset.

Our children, 2012

As the years went by, and two more children entered the school system, I found myself more and more interested in making a difference at this school. Over time, I took on various roles there because I was interested in using some of my business, organizational, and artistic skills. It was fun getting to know other parents and teachers in the process, whether acting as a Room Parent or Field Trip Chaperon, or sharing the organizing of the 5th Grade Moving-On Ceremony, or working on a Collaborative Art fundraising project involving all classrooms in the school.

As our children grew and developed, so did my interests. Not only did I learn and share in the schools and across our Town, I honed my listening and advocacy skills. In the beginning, I advocated for my own children. I took advantage of leadership training by the PTA, the League of Women Voters, the Public Policy Institute (now the MA Leadership Academy), and more. Soon thereafter, I was advocating for all children in the school, for Town residents, then for all children in the school district. I volunteered on communication and leadership teams for local debt-exclusion overrides, School Committee, and Selectman candidate elections; drafted letters and fliers in response to state Ballot Initiatives; and spoke up to participate on a state education task force.

Last Friday, September 12, 2014, I was honored to be sworn-in by Governor Patrick as the Parent Representative of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Massachusetts General Laws required that I step down from my role on the Lexington School Committee. I look forward to advocating for the nearly one million children in our public schools across the Commonwealth.

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Handheld shots from the Governor's Office

Other stuff, perhaps of interest:

• From Michigan: The Colorful Principal: Tough to Admit @benjamingilpin
• From British Columbia Public Schools: Schools, Politics, and Other Stuff: Public Education is Hurting
• From Edutopia: Start the Year by Building Hope @edutopia

Media Literacy Education

Advocates in support of the Media Literacy Bill (S.213) were in good company in Room A-1 of the State House on the morning of October 31st. Below is the testimony of Christina Brown on behalf of the Massachusetts PTA, followed by my testimony on behalf of the MASC Legislative Committee.

My name is Christina Brown; I am a parent, educator, and a proud member of the Massachusetts Parent TeacherAssociation, an affiliate of National PTA, the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy association in the country, here to speak on behalf of the needs of families, parents, and children.  

Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on the critical issue facing children in the 21^st Century, media literacy. Right now there are children all over the Commonwealth who have in their hands, in their lockers, and in their backpacks devices that connect them to the greatest collection of marketing, images, information, videos, social media, and personal data collection tools in the history of our species. This portable collection of media grows exponentially every day and our digital natives naively assume that knowing how to manipulate the functions of these devices means they understand and can make wise decisions about the content that pours out in torrents. 

As a parent of a second-grader, I know my days of having control over the media that my child has access to are limited.  My ban on his using electronic devices that connect him to this collection of media could end any moment as there is no place a child can go where there are not smart phones and tablets. I know full well that this media is as valuable as it is his dangerous to his development and socialization. I also know there are marketers doing brain research at this moment to understand how to keep him engaged and on their screen. I know that he hears my voice in his head asking him to think critically, ask himself what is being sold to him, is this true, what is the evidence for the veracity of the claim that comes with deceptively attractive graphics and colors? But I know parents can't do this alone.

This bill asks that in addition to their families' voices, children in the Commonwealth also hear the voices of their well-trained and skilled teachers who are provided with resources to support the development of media literacy in our children. Teachers can join parents on the frontline and add to the knowledge and volume of critical questions children ask themselves as they use new technology and navigate our 21^st Century world. In the same way MA teachers will for thirteen years support children's development as literate individual who are prepared for college and career as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners as detailed in the MA Frameworks, there is a desperate need for this comprehensive literacy instruction to fully include media literacy to support students in navigating a and increasingly complex media landscape.

The Mass PTA Position on Consumerism dedicates us to:

I. support efforts to protect children from exploitive marketing through advocacy, education, and collaboration; and

II. To support, expand, and improve efforts to inform parents on media and technology safety issues.

The Mass PTA Position on Technology in Schools dedicates us to:

I. Support, expand, and improve efforts that increase knowledge and skills for students to access, analyze, evaluate, navigate, and communicate a variety of media messages from the internet and other media sources.

The Mass PTA Position on Education of the Whole Child dedicates us to:

I. Support, expand and improve resources to ensure schools give every child access to a rich array of subjects and address children's basic emotional and physical needs.

II. Support, expand, and improve resources to ensure children are healthy, engaged, supported, challenged, and safe.

Media education is about making sure that students are prepared to think critically and ask the right questions throughout the 21^st Century and into the 22^nd Century. And it is essential, now more than ever that we give them skills they need for the lifetime that extends well-beyond their K-12 years. Thank you.

Christina Brown,

Massachusetts PTA

405 Waltham Street, #147

Lexington MA 02421

617/861-7910

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Honorable Co-Chairs, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the importance of Media Literacy in Education. I speak as a school committee member and member of the Massachusetts Association of School Committee’s Legislative Committee.

Members of locally elected school committees are very sensitive to public policy overload, education legislation, or any legislation that would mandate course curriculum content. At a meeting of the MASC Legislative Committee last Thursday night, members thoughtfully considered, then voted unanimously to support S.213 for the following reasons:

• The Bill is not written as a mandate. Media literacy is pedagogy, a method of teaching, not a subject area. One can incorporate media literacy into any subject. So, it’s not an add-on, but rather a powerful way to teach a subject that is relevant and engaging to kids who live in a powerful 24/7 media environment.
• The MTA endorses S.213 and has been on board as long as the Massachusetts PTA.
• It’s a matter of equity. Some districts already recognize that media literacy is written into the Common Core State Standards and those districts are moving forward to integrate media analysis; students risk falling behind schools and districts that are doing a better job preparing their students for work and life.
• This Bill calls upon the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to assist districts with implementing comprehensive media literacy education for the purpose of developing stronger critical analysis skills and independent thinking skills; these skills are in tune with curriculum frameworks aligned to Common Core State Standards and necessary for navigating our media-saturated world.

Today, literacy means media literacy. When you consider that nearly 6 trillion ads are displayed online each year[1], 400 million tweets are sent daily[2], and 4.75 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook every day[3], it’s vital that students question and understand media’s commercial and political messages –– and to create their own messages and responses to 24/7 media. Thank you.

Mary Ann Stewart

Lexington MA 02420

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[1] U.S. Digital Future in Focus 2013, www.comScore.com

[2] http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-21/business/37889387_1_tweets-jack-dorsey-twitter, by Hayley Tsukayama, March 21, 2013

[3]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151908376716729&set=a.10151908376636729.1073741825.20531316728&type=3&theater

Summer Leadership Meetings

everychild.onevoice.

Every summer members of the Massachusetts PTA Board plan meetings with local PTA leaders across the Commonwealth. This year, meetings were held in the following places on the following dates and times:

Yarmouth, Saturday, August 3, 9:30 AM-11:30 AM
Brockton, Saturday, August 3, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM
Plymouth, Saturday, August 10, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Lexington, Thursday, August 15, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Salem State University, August 16, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Monson, Friday, August 23, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM
Pittsfield, Saturday, August 24, 9:30 AM-11:30 AM

Established in 1910, Massachusetts PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer advocacy association for children and youth in the Commonwealth. Today we speak up for family engagement language in laws; safe, healthy, and technologically advanced schools; and equal opportunity for all children, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

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.

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.