Parents Across America (PAA) is an advocacy group of parents that supports teachers’ union-aligned education policies ¹ and opposes school choice. ²

PAA has affiliates in 26 states, ³ operates a critical race theory-influenced “anti-racist” book club, ⁴ recommends that parents coordinate activism with teachers’ union leaders, ⁵ and supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement. ⁶

In 2015, PAA received funding from the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation. ¹

History and Leadership

Parents Across America was first conceived in 2010 ⁷ by Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) in Chicago and Leonie Harrison of Class Size Matters to coordinate open letters criticizing Obama administration education policies. ⁸ In February 2011, the group officially launched with 14 founding members and held its first founders retreat. ⁹ Founding members included PURE founder and Philadelphia City Councilmember Helen Gym (D). ¹⁰

In 2014, PAA received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ¹¹

Julie Woestehoff is the founder and interim executive director of Parents Across America. From 1995 until 2014, she was the executive director of Chicago-based Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE). ^{12 13}

Khem Irby has been PAA’s board president since 2017. She is also a co-founder of the left-of-center Mothers’ Agenda of New York.  On her LinkedIn profile, Irby lists the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice as one of her employment skills. ¹⁴

Activities and Funding

Parents Across America is an activist group of parents ¹⁵ that supports teachers’ union-aligned education policies ¹ and opposes school choice, school vouchers, and privately run education programs. ^{2 14} As of April 2023, PAA has affiliates in 26 states. ³

PAA operates a critical race theory-influenced “anti-racist” book club, ⁴ recommends its members local with local teachers’ union leaders when prioritizing activism around local schools, and suggests screenings of left-of-center education films to support its advocacy objectives. ⁵

PAA also supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement, ⁶ the removal of school resource officers from schools, ¹⁶ the teaching of critical race theory-influenced concepts of equity and justice, ^{17 18} and opposes private-school choice programs. ¹⁹

Activism Priorities

Parents Across America advocates for what it calls the equity of resources for public education, conducts parent workshops, and partners with likeminded organizations to advance its activist priorities. ¹⁴ PAA has claimed that parent perspectives have been missing from education said that policies such as privatization of schools, high stakes testing, school closures, school choice, and what it calls “deprofessionalism of teaching” are not supported by parents. ¹⁴

PAA has claimed that No Child Left Behind education reforms have been used as a tool to undermine and privatize education and eliminate teachers’ unions. ²⁰

PAA advocates for expansion of pre-kindergarten programs and full-day kindergarten ²¹ and opposes standardized testing in favor of teacher-generated student progress reports. The organization also advocates for the concept of equitable funding of schools and the creation of what it calls diverse and inclusive schools and platforms. ²

PAA classifies strong public education as fundamental to American democracy and opposes charter schools, vouchers, and privately run education programs. The organization also opposes standardized testing, which it claims leads to unreliable evaluation of teachers and students, and the closure of schools. ²¹

Funding

Parents Across America receives funding from individual contributions and grants. ²² In 2020, PAA reported revenue and expenses of less than $50,000. ²³

Parents Across America Received $5,000 from the Schott Foundation for Public Education via a grant from the left-of-center National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (now Partners for Dignity & Rights) in 2019. ²⁴ In 2015, PAA received $15,000 from the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation. ¹

1. “Chicago Teachers Union Foundation Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). (2015). Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237076885/201711329349305841/full.
2. “PAA Position Paper – Parents Stand Up Against Test Stress.” Parents Across America. January 2016. Accessed via Web Archive February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170226180001/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TestStressPositionrev2-1-16.pdf
3. “Our List of Chapters and Affiliates.” Parents Across America. Accessed Via Web Archive March 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220311100045/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/affiliates/.
4. “Join PAA’s anti-racism book club.” Parents Across America. Accessed May 6, 2023. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/PAA-s-anti-racism-book-club-meeting-Sunday—Join-us-.html?soid=1109538512302&aid=skWlCmJ3GDg.
5. “Parents Across America Toolkit.” Parents Across America. November 2012. Accessed via Web Archive March 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220320114950/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/PAA-toolkit-3.12.pdf.
6. “Facebook Post.” Parents Across America. Posted February 2, 2020. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsacrossAmerica/posts/pfbid0jRKcVjdfCwLVQj7YyQDX6oxQkEgvhYxmkunAkiuwj1G9DznktedELLu9MiQkxwQfl?__cft__[0]=AZUXX8_sZF3g3mHzxRrYjDKaswRP3dOX5-RdliC9dU1DOSKtziyHWvbKvbsrUbOOujzdl5ccn0b-Mcsv7Tawe9ddmlXhTkhWmOQztRSjz2P1I_IjhP29b1aebsvT-fpDEAVQVFbaIYRhA80earNlDWb-138QxTN6qegN2X63wqXRsuKxrGmB5cHHneq6n8MZrxQkHRZIIAZJTjEeIiecpDKX&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R.
7. ^[1] “Julie Woestehoff.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-woestehoff-91814b7/.
8. Haimson, Leonie. “Parents Across America demand to be heard.” Huffington Post. September 4, 2010. Accessed May 6, 2023. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/parents-across-america-de_b_705823.
9. ^[1] “Why we started PAA.” Parents Across America. January 24, 2022. Accessed via Web Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20220124192846/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/why-we-started-paa/.
10. “PAA Founders.” Parents Across America. Accessed via Web Archive January 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220124194503/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/who-we-are/founders-and-partners/.
11. “Determination Letter.” Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. March 2014. Accessed May 2, 2023. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/dl/FinalLetter_45-5560258_PARENTSACROSSAMERICAINCNFP_07192013_01.tif.
12. “Julie Woestehoff.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-woestehoff-91814b7/.
13. “About Julie Woestehoff.” Nevada State Legislature. Accessed May 6, 2023. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Document/2937#:~:text=Julie%20Woestehoff%20is%20the%20interim%20executive%20director%20of%20Parents%20Across%20America.
14.  “Experience.” Khem Irby LinkedIn Page. Accessed May 2, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/khemdirby-54673915/.
15. “About PAA.” Parents Across America. Accessed via Web Archive May 3, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20210917214221/https://www.parentsacrossamerica.org/who-we-are/.
16. “Facebook Post.” Parents Across America Facebook. Posted June 4, 2020. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsacrossAmerica/posts/pfbid02tvWAc9EwR5cJwdVCCxbrZNfXoJCe8jrtMee6kTqwXa3De8qEdBXub5cGd84ipmx2l?__cft__[0]=AZX6lODYqDcK3wk1w_ZbFYsunjf4JvnjlCHH7RW-9uw8rixycFnKIy34pQc_yH2_jg4PDzbkowlQEg9bN_upRjOeOUY4KUbouh8nEIBf39rUtdmfinomhB6KlTpALRAzvD8vclw3K-Qe_Ue8v8LuIeEmlRRq3TZlSaHyOsDhYpoPbwG9dmlBEDKpdLNaCt_utg1jFoYWeutDcnjRQc4aQvJC&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
17. “Facebook Post.” Parents Across America. Posted February 12, 2020. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsacrossAmerica/posts/pfbid087Qvi5CkaXbdW22ANNBiW3xQWmKSd49kt3QfRTL33379J9j9qa77d2QQ6LENWeRXl?__cft__[0]=AZXTNXDojA59-PrVCIyKbkjin1ElJops1sgsAUNpDvSrYY6kKU-XBbe9uVaJ_XZiHcewbDCuloFP4Huu3lpID1qvdy-YK6hCKTOmvBjtVxvC2abJ_2zVOUtrOQfWl3dzje-8CzPXpwcp5vgQFaXwyumotHg4tD9GqKEJtq8DaTdV4fPEtvr4MbeDEuRJ6M_8unnrJwKWYZVQ0UFR7ZqDY3_w&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R.
18. Turner, Bret. “Teaching Kindness Isn’t Enough.” Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning For Justice. Issue 63, 2019. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/fall-2019/teaching-kindness-isnt-enough?fbclid=IwAR2djvrCHXFGk7AkIdgYrNvr1-lHj9iYpo9SdIQfEeY8uDFhgBO-kOdcd1E
19. “Facebook Post.” Parents Across America Facebook. Posted May 12, 2018. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsacrossAmerica/posts/pfbid02e5voYMZyhaxBMazfvhqW3Uqr7F14AURiBmXJGoSQfBmTMhsGighwMY2S3iq2KnSNl?__cft__[0]=AZUq8dVlWpd2uNvsedxsCXcdllfIkH-XebAmmrmZC1UbYIuMF4eVByVWgE6JDSItDQiEtePyxbEwFclLdF6Pczn5gmZGI66vehEhf3sFwsgpzGxaFf9Ib5bWY8XO_zH_Mnf1hIdsAWG-WiBqkCqbFEQS66FusPLAyU7FvNjpxcxzCRlhtlJAcsiKkvTj4H6bndIt0yq8nAn8k7K3taWFZ3XE&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R.
20. “PAA Brief: The Impact of Poverty, Race and Cultural Bias on Educational Opportunity*.” Parents Across America. January 18, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive October 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211020185826/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/RPEfacts1pg.pdf.
21. “Our Statement of Beliefs.” Parents Across America. Accessed via Web Archive. May 3, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20220119150328/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/what-we-believe-2/.
22. “Our List of Chapters and Affiliates.” Parents Across America. Accessed via Web Archive March 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220311100045/http://parentsacrossamerica.org/affiliates/.
23. “Parents Across America.” Internal Revenue Service Organization Information Page. Form 990-N. Accessed May 4, 2023. Search result for EIN 45-5560258. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/.
24. “The Schott Foundation for Public Education.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43457065/202141379349304404/full.