The list of people and organizations here endorsed the actions in 2011 and 2012 that were organized under our organization: Save Our Schools March.
If you would like to see the list of endorsers for
the 2016 SOS Coalition for Action
please go here.

Past, Newer, and Renewed Endorsements for the Principles that Guide the work of Save Our Schools

  • Newer or Renewed Endorsers
  • Educators, Education Authors, and Policy Experts
  • Colleges, Universities, and Higher Education Organizations
  • Education Writers and Bloggers
  • Teachers of the Year
  • Education Organizations and Organization Leaders
  • Civic and Political Organizations
  • Authors, Entertainers, and Filmmakers
  • Public Officials and Governmental Organizations
  • Local, State, and National Unions

Newer or Renewed Endorsers

We appreciate the continued commitment to Save Our Schools and Public Education from the following supporters:

Dr. Diane Ravitch, education historian and author of books including The Death and Life of the Great American School System and soon to be another…
RT @dianeravitch ~ Wednesday, July 4, 2012 “To clear up any confusion, I support SOS. I will miss SOS next month because I am writing a book.”

The Participatory Action Research Center for Education Organizing (PARCEO) is a PAR-based education, research, and training Center that collaborates with, and serves as a resource to parent and education groups and community organizations working for justice in our public education system.

The Latino Institute, Incorporated. Our mission is to serve as a bridge between the Latino community, and the educational, cultural, governmental, social and economic institutions of society by providing accurate, factual, and timely information on the barriers and challenges affecting the education, growth, development and well-being of that community and by developing, recommending, and advocating solutions and actions which may serve as a catalyst for change.

Paterson Education Fund: (an activist parent’s group.) Right now only 60% of our children graduate from high school. It’s not OK! We are working together to graduate all our children.

NJ Working Families Alliance We fight to hold politicians accountable on the issues that matter to working families – good public schools, affordable health care, and fair budget and taxes.

The Parent Leadership Project, which grew out of over a decade of collaboration between parents at the Bloomingdale Family Head Start Program and the Center for Immigrant Families, is rooted in uptown Manhattan. Through PLP, low-income parents of color and allies explore issues relevant to their lives, schools, and communities. PLP builds power, leadership, and organizing among parents for justice in our public schools.

Change the Stakes actively advocates for policies that serve the needs of children. To this end the organizations insists that policymakers Stop making standardized tests high-stakes! Change the Stakes states, Standardized test scores should not be used for: promotion and graduation decisions nor for teacher and school evaluations. Standardized tests should be used solely as a diagnostic tool to inform instruction. No more public dollars spent on high-stakes testing. Our children need a very different kind of education!

Angela Engel is the Founder, Director of Uniting 4 Kids. She is the acclaimed Author of Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving our Children’s Education. She is the acclaimed Author of Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving our Children’s Education., In 2008 she led the Children’s Action Agenda, organizing children’s advocacy groups from around Colorado on a common legislative platform

Inside Schools We are journalists, public school parents, and public school advocates dedicated to providing the best independent information about New York City’s public schools. We want to tell you what’s really going on, because test scores don’t tell the whole story. We visit hundreds of schools each year and interview thousands of people–principals, teachers, students and parents. We observe what’s happening in the classrooms, cafeterias, hallways and even the bathrooms.

Jaime-Jin Lewis is the Executive Director at Border Crossers.
“By staying isolated in their immediate neighborhood, students are prevented from developing the cross-cultural competency and leadership skills needed to cross the borders that divide our communities. Since their founding in 2001, Border Crossers has built partnerships between New York City schools that are located close to each other but their students come from different backgrounds and largely resegregated schools. Through school-based programs and community building initiatives, they bring together students who would not ordinarily meet to create change in their classrooms, schools, and neighborhoods. Border Crossers organizes students, teachers, school leaders, and families to cross borders and create more active, equitable, and collaborative communities.”

Dr. Michelle Fine is Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women’s Studies and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York [CUNY.] Her research focuses on youth in schools, communities and prisons, developed through critical feminist theory and method.

Educators, Education Authors and Policy Experts

Dr. Lawrence Baines, Chairman of Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum, University of Oklahoma

Lee Barrios, 2004-2005 Louisiana State PTA Educator of Distinction

Vicki Bartolini, Dorothy Reed Williams Faculty Chair in the Social Sciences, Wheaton College

Jonas Basom, founder of The Drama Education Network

Dr. David Berliner, emeritus professor of education at Arizona State University and author/co-author of books including The Manufactured Crisis, Putting Research to Work, and Collateral Damage

Dr. Emmanuel Bernstein, psychologist and author of The Secret Revolution

Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (“The Sisters”), literacy education authors

Marion Brady, longtime educator, administrator, author, and curriculum expert

David Bloomfield, Professor of Education Law and Policy at Brooklyn College, CUNY, and the CUNY Graduate Center as well as former General Counsel to the NYC Board of Education and author of American Public Education Law

Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, longtime educator, professor of education at Lesley University and author of books including Taking Back Childhood

Sam Chaltain, educator, author, organizational change consultant and former Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy

Linda Christensen, Bill Bigelow, Bob Peterson, and Stan Karp of Rethinking Schools

James Crawford, author and leader of the Institute for Language Education Policy (ILEP)

Dr. Antonia Darder, professor of education policy and Latino/a studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles Ducommon Professor of Education at Stanford University and author of books including The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future

Michael Deshotels, retired Louisiana educator and former Executive Director of the Louisiana Association of Educators

Dr. Peter DeWitt, educator and author

Francis M. Duffy, Professor of Change Leadership at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. and Co-Director of FutureMinds: Transforming American School Systems

Todd Farley, standardized testing professional and author of Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry

Dr. Barbara Ferguson, Louisiana school administrator, first female superintendent of New Orleans Public Schools, and holder of titles including Superintendent of the St. John Public Schools, Assistant Superintendent of Research and Development in the Department of Education, Deputy Secretary in the Department of Labor, and Attorney to the Workforce Commission in the Office of the Governor

Dr. Michelle Fine is Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women’s Studies and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York [CUNY.] Her research focuses on youth in schools, communities and prisons, developed through critical feminist theory and method.

Kelly Flynn, teacher and author of Kids, Classrooms, and Capitol Hill: A Peek Inside the Walls of America’s Public Schools

Drs. Kenneth and Yetta Goodman, professors emeritus at the University of Arizona, College of Education, Department of Language, Reading, and Culture

Dr. Steven Jay Gross, Professor Educational Administration in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department, College of Education, Temple University

Anne Goudvis, teacher educator and author of books for educators including Strategies That Work and Non-Fiction Matters

Dr. Sherick Andre Hughes, Professor of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park and author of books including What We Still Don’t Know About Teaching Race: How to Talk About It in the Classroom

Jaime-Jin Lewis is the Executive Director at Border Crossers.
“By staying isolated in their immediate neighborhood, students are prevented from developing the cross-cultural competency and leadership skills needed to cross the borders that divide our communities. Since their founding in 2001, Border Crossers has built partnerships between New York City schools that are located close to each other but their students come from different backgrounds and largely resegregated schools. Through school-based programs and community building initiatives, they bring together students who would not ordinarily meet to create change in their classrooms, schools, and neighborhoods. Border Crossers organizes students, teachers, school leaders, and families to cross borders and create more active, equitable, and collaborative communities.”

Dr. Michael Klonsky, longtime educator, civil rights activist, and director of the Small Schools Workshop at the University of Illinois, Chicago

Alfie Kohn, human behavior and education expert and author of books including Punished By Rewards and The Schools Our Children Deserve

Gerald W. Kohn, Ed.D., 2009 National Superintendents Roundtable Superintendent of the Year Award, 2007-08 National President of the Suburban School Superintendents, co-author of The Mission is Possible: Urban School Reform That Works, due out Winter 2012

Jonathan Kozol, educator and author of books including Savage Inequalities and Ordinary Resurrections

Dr. Stephen Krashen, linguist and professor emeritus at the University of Southern California

Dr. Bruce E. Levine, clinical psychologist and author of books including Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite.

Ann Lieberman, teacher leadership and development expert, emeritus professor at Teachers College, and Senior Scholar at the School Redesign Network at Stanford University

Deborah Meier, acclaimed educator, MacArthur Fellow, and author of books including The Power of Their Ideas and Playing for Keeps

Dr. Peter McLaren, professor of urban education and critical pedagogy, University of California Los Angeles

Dr. Ernest Morrell, associate professor and Associate Director for Youth Research at the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) at the University of California at Los Angeles

Dr. Pedro Noguera, urban sociologist and professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Dr. Don Perl, President of the Coalition for Better Education and professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies at the University of Northern Colorado

Dr. Diane Ravitch, education historian and author of books including The Death and Life of the Great American School System and soon to be another…
RT @dianeravitch ~ Wednesday, July 4, 2012 “To clear up any confusion, I support SOS. I will miss SOS next month because I am writing a book.”

Jill W. Saia, NBCT, Faculty Member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and Professional Development Specialist in East Baton Rouge Parish Public School System

Dr. Eric Schaps, President and Founder of the Developmental Studies Center

Jeannie Schellin, Lecturer in Education, Lake Forest College; Supervisor of Student Teachers, Northwestern University

Dr. Milton Schwebel, Dean and professor emeritus, Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University and author of books including Who Can Be Educated and Remaking America’s Three School Systems: Now Separate and Unequal

Dr. Patrick Shannon, professor of language and literacy in the College of Education at Penn State University

Dr. Joan Poliner Shapiro, Professor of Educational Administration in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department, College of Education, Temple Universisity

Dr. Joel Shatzky, English professor and author of works including The Thinking Crisis

Dr. Alan Singer, professor of education at Hofstra University

Dr. Joel Spring, education professor and author of books including Education and the Rise of the Global Economy and The Universal Right to Education: Justification, Definition, and Guidelines

Dr. Yvonne Siu-Runyan, longtime educator and President of the National Council of Teachers of English

Dr. Gary Stager, Executive Director of the Constructivist Consortium and Constructing Modern Knowledge and longtime teacher educator, education journalist, teacher and speaker

Lynn Stoddard and the Educating for Human Greatness Group

Dr. Jesse Turner, Professor of Language Arts at Central Connecticut State University and creator of “Children are More than Test Scores”

Dr. Robert Valiant, longtime educator, administrator, and curriculum, instruction, facility planning, and education management expert

Dr. Cornel West, professor and public intellectual at Princeton University, author of books including Race Matters, and co-host of the weekly public radio show, Smiley and West

Ron Wolk, Chairman of Big Picture Learning and Founding Editor, Education Week and Teacher Magazine

Dr. John Womack, Jr., Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics (emeritus), Harvard University

Dr. Joanne Yatvin, longtime K-12 and teacher educator, Former President of the National Council of Teachers of English, member of the National Reading Panel, and author

Dr. Victoria Young, veterinarian, active public school parent and author of Education’s Missing Ingredient: What Parents Can Tell Educators

Dr. Yong Zhao, distinguished education professor and author of books including Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization

Colleges, Universities, and Higher Education Organizations

The Brandeis Education Program, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Hofstra University, School of Education, Health and Human Services, Long Island, NY

Inside Schools We are journalists, public school parents, and public school advocates dedicated to providing the best independent information about New York City’s public schools. We want to tell you what’s really going on, because test scores don’t tell the whole story. We visit hundreds of schools each year and interview thousands of people–principals, teachers, students and parents. We observe what’s happening in the classrooms, cafeterias, hallways and even the bathrooms.

Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

Teachers College, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Columbia University, New York, NY

Education Writers and Bloggers

Kenneth Bernstein, National Board certified government teacher, writer, and advocate

Anthony Cody, National Board certified science teacher, founder of Teachers’ Letters to Obama, and author of the Teacher Magazine blog “Living in Dialogue”

Angela Engel is the Founder, Director of Uniting 4 Kids. She is the acclaimed Author of Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving our Children’s Education. She is the acclaimed Author of Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving our Children’s Education., In 2008 she led the Children’s Action Agenda, organizing children’s advocacy groups from around Colorado on a common legislative platform

Our Schools NYC

Rachel Levy, public school parent, teacher, author of All Things Education and contributor to So Educated

Dr. Marilyn Price-Mitchell, parent, developmental psychologist, and author of Roots of Action: How Parents, Schools, and Communities Help Kids Thrive

Sarah Puglisi, parent, elementary school teacher and author of A Day in the Life

Sabrina Stevens Shupe, urban elementary school teacher and creator of the Failing Schools Project

Teachers of the Year

Nancy Flanagan, National Board Certified Music teacher, 1993 Michigan Teacher of the Year, and author of the Teacher Magazine blog “Teacher in a Strange Land”

Danielle Kovach, 2011 New Jersey Teacher of the Year

Renee Moore, National Board Certified English teacher, 2001 Mississippi Teacher of the Year, and author of the Teacher Leaders Network blog, TeachMoore

Ann O’Halloran, 2007 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year (History)

Nancy Schoen, 2005 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year (Music)

Bob Williams, math teacher and 2009 Alaska Teacher of the Year

Maryann Woods-Murphy, 2010 New Jersey Teacher of the Year

Michael Yell, National Board Certified Social Studies teacher and 1998 National Social Studies Teacher of the Year

Education Organizations and Organization Leaders

Alliance for Childhood

Association for Childhood Education International

Dr. Renate Caine, teacher, professor, and Director of Research and Professional Development of the Natural Learning Research Institute.

The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education

The Center for Expansion of Language and Thinking (CELT)

Citizens for Public Schools (MA)

The Coalition of Essential Schools

CEASE—Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment

Communities for Public Education Reform

The Council for Opportunity in Education

Mona David, Founder of the New York Charter Parents Association

the Florida School Board Association

The Parent Leadership Project, which grew out of over a decade of collaboration between parents at the Bloomingdale Family Head Start Program and the Center for Immigrant Families, is rooted in uptown Manhattan. Through PLP, low-income parents of color and allies explore issues relevant to their lives, schools, and communities. PLP builds power, leadership, and organizing among parents for justice in our public schools.

Jenifer Fox, The Strengths Movement

Lisa Goldman and Testing Is Not Teaching

Grassroots Education Movement

The Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters and co-director of the Northeast Region, Parents Across America

Jane Hirschmann, Martha Foote, and Don Freeman of Time Out From Testing

Charlotte K. Hummel, Esq., President of the William Penn School District Board of Directors

The Institute for Learning and Teaching

The International Association for Learning Alternatives

Kansas Families for Education

Dr. Martin Krovetz, Director of Leading for Equity and Achievement Design (LEAD), a regional center of the Coalition of Essential Schools

Mary Levy, public school activist; civil rights, DC school finance, and labor lawyer

Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union

Horace Lucido, Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse (EPATA)

Deb Mayer, founder of Great Schools for America

Samuel Meisels, President of the Erikson Institute

Edward Miller, Executive Director, Alliance for Childhood

Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs

Albert Mitchell II, Executive Director of New Jersey Minority Educational Development

The National Association of Secondary School Principals

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest)

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

National ParentNet Association

Dr. Monty Neill, Executive Director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing

Jenny Nelson, Student Multiethnic Action Research Team (SMART) and D.C. Language Access Coalition

Donna Nevel and Ujju Aggarwal, Center for Immigrant Families

New Jersey County Teachers of the Year (NJCTY)

New Jersey Minority Educational Development (NJMED)

The North Dakota Study Group

Christopher Nye, Director of The Whole Child Initiative

Parents Across America

Promise the Children

Cathy Reilly, Director of SHAPPE (Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals, and Educators)

Richmond Teachers for Social Justice

The Sakin Foundation

San Francisco Teachers for Social Justice

Rita Solnet, corporate training and organizational consultant, member of Testing is Not Teaching and founding member of Parents Across America

Donna Stern, East Coast/Midwest Coordinator of By Any Means Necessary

Students for a Democratic Society

Laura Thomas, Antioch Center for School Renewal

United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministry

The Virginia School Boards Association

Whole Language Umbrella, a conference of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

Julie Woestehoff, Founder of PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education) and founding member of Parents Across America

Civic and Political Organizations

Bailout the People Movement

By Any Means Necessary

Change the Stakes actively advocates for policies that serve the needs of children. To this end the organizations insists that policymakers Stop making standardized tests high-stakes! Change the Stakes states, Standardized test scores should not be used for: promotion and graduation decisions nor for teacher and school evaluations. Standardized tests should be used solely as a diagnostic tool to inform instruction. No more public dollars spent on high-stakes testing. Our children need a very different kind of education!

Democracy for America

Freedom Socialist Party

The Latino Institute, Incorporated. Our mission is to serve as a bridge between the Latino community, and the educational, cultural, governmental, social and economic institutions of society by providing accurate, factual, and timely information on the barriers and challenges affecting the education, growth, development and well-being of that community and by developing, recommending, and advocating solutions and actions which may serve as a catalyst for change.

NJ Working Families Alliance We fight to hold politicians accountable on the issues that matter to working families – good public schools, affordable health care, and fair budget and taxes.

The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute (Selma, AL)

Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity

The Participatory Action Research Center for Education Organizing (PARCEO) is a PAR-based education, research, and training Center that collaborates with, and serves as a resource to parent and education groups and community organizations working for justice in our public education system.

Paterson Education Fund: (an activist parent’s group.) Right now only 60% of our children graduate from high school. It’s not OK! We are working together to graduate all our children.

People’s Organization for Progress

The Plessy and Ferguson Foundation

Progressive Democrats of America – Tucson Chapter

Radical Women

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – Tucson Branch

Authors, Entertainers, and Filmmakers

Vicki Abeles, Founder of Reel Link Films and Director of Race to Nowhere

Phil Bildner, best-selling author of children’s books including The Hallelujah Flight and the Sluggers series

Tom Chapin, Grammy award-winning musician and arts education advocate

Matt Damon, award-winning actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist

Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Award-winning actor

Dave Eggers, author of books including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, screenwriter , and publisher

Yvonne and Robert Flame Lamothe, independent filmmakers and creators of TEACH: Teachers are Talking, is the Nation Listening?

Victor Rivas Rivers, anti-domestic violence advocate, actor, and author of A Private Family Matter

Amy Valens, educator and co-director of August to June

Public Officials and Governmental Organizations

The Baltimore City Council

Doug Christensen, Former Nebraska Commissioner of Public Education

Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA)

Scott Folsom, Los Angeles parent leader and elected neighborhood councilmember of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council in Northeast LA

Anne Geiger, former school board member and author of Public Policy Blogger

Congressman Raul Grijalva (D- AZ)

Marko Liias, Washington State House of Representatives (D-District 21)

Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D- WI)

The Oakland, CA Board of Education

Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona State Senate (D-District 15)

Local, State, and National Unions

Local, State, and National Unions

The American Federation of Teachers

The National Education Association

AFSCME Retired Public Employees Council, Chapter 23 (Port Angeles, WA)

Albuquerque Teachers’ Federation (Albuquerque, NM – AFT)

Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 587 (Seattle, WA)

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

Baltimore Teachers Union (Baltimore, MD – AFT)

Bedford Teachers’ Association (Bedford, NY – AFT)

Broward Teachers Union (Broward County, FL – AFT/NEA)

Boston Teachers Union (Boston, MA – AFT)

California Teachers Association (NEA)

California School Employees Association

Cambridge College Employees Federation (Cambridge, MA – AFT)

Chicago Teachers Union (Chicago, IL – AFT)

Citrus Belt UniServ (Southern CA – NEA)– comprised of NEA Jurupa, Redlands Teachers Association, Redlands Educational Support Professionals Association, Rialto Education Association, and Yucaipa-Calimesa Educators Association

Classroom Teachers Association of Palm Beach (Palm Beach County, FL – NEA)

Cleveland Heights Teachers Union (Cleveland Heights, OH – AFT)

Coalition of University Employees-International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 2010- UC Berkeley Chapter (Berkeley, CA)

Collie County Education Association (Marco Island, FL – NEA)

Colorado Education Association (NEA)

The DC Metro Labor Council

Education Austin (Austin, TX – AFT/NEA)

Escondido Elementary Educators Association

Florida Educators Association (NEA)

Forest Grove Education Association (Forest Grove, OR – NEA)

Highlands County Education Association (Sebring, FL – AFT/NEA)

Professional and Technical Employees Local 17 (Seattle, WA)

Kansas National Education Association (NEA)

Kansas City Federation of Teachers (Kansas City, MO – AFT)

Louisiana Federation of Teachers (AFT)

Maryland State Education Association (NEA)

Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (Milwaukee, WI – NEA)

Missouri Education Association (NEA)

National Education Association – Retired

Nebraska State Education Association (NEA)

Newark Teachers Union (Newark, NJ – AFT)

New Jersey Education Association (NEA)

North Carolina Association of Educators (NEA)

North Dakota Education Association (NEA)

Oakland Education Association (Oakland, CA – NEA)

Prince George’s County Educators’ Association (Prince George’s County, MD – NEA)

Ramapo Teachers Association (Suffern, NY – AFT/NEA)

Renton Education Association (Renton, WA – NEA)

Retired Public Employees Council, Chapter 3 (Seattle, WA – AFSCME)

Roseville Federation of Teachers (Roseville, Michigan – AFT)

St. Paul Federation of Teachers, Local 28 (St. Paul, MN – AFT)

San Francisco Community College District Federation of Teachers (San Francisco, CA – AFT)

Savannah Federation of Teachers (Savannah, GA – AFT)

Seattle Education Association (Seattle, WA – NEA)

Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County (Anne Arundel County, MD – NEA)

United Teachers of Dade (Dade County, FL – AFT/NEA)

United Teachers Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA – AFT/NEA)

University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA) 9119, Local 1, Berkeley, CA

Virginia Education Association (NEA)

Washington Education Association (NEA)

Wisconsin Education Association Council (NEA)