Organizations
studentsfirst.org

They fund raise to help have more money to change education in American schools ... maybe good, maybe not.

COMMENTARY
I have a fairly active web presence and in turn this means that I get plenty of requests for donations. Most of the requests make me 'mad as hell' since I am an accountant who likes factual data and have little or no use for PR and puffery.

Today I got an e-mail with the subject line 'Peter, you helped 8.7 million kids' which, of course, should make me very proud. But, please, what is this all about. It is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. First I never gave them any money last year anyway. I am not sure sending me an email constitutes much meaningful help. Second, even if I had given them $25 this would have helped only a small number of the 8.7 million kids that I was meant to have helped. I suppose this sort of e-mail marketing and fund raising works, but it is essentially a fraud.

When one tries to find out something about the fund flows in the organization and the way things are working, these organizations are not very forthcoming. As a one time auditor ... about five decades ago, this amount of avoiding the questions makes me very suspicious. They talk a lot about the big numbers. They talk a lot about an individual story or two. They never show you anough so that it is clear that they are doing a good job with the money, and none of the published accounts (as in tax filings) help very much.

I want to see meaningful accounting in the not-for-profit sector. The work that gets done with the money that reaches the final beneficiaries is often quite amazing ... but the amount of money that 'goes missing' before it gets to these final beneficiaries is pretty appalling.

Peter, you helped 8.7 million kids

Dear Peter,

One year ago we launched an organization to put the needs of students first.

Before we began, it was just a few of us, united by the belief that every child in America deserves equal access to a high-quality education. But we knew we weren't alone.

Over the last year, parents, teachers, students, and concerned citizens from every state have joined us. In the coming weeks, we hope to reach 1 million members taking action in their communities on behalf of students. Challenging the status quo wasn't easy, but you did it.

There is much work ahead, but right now take a moment to reflect on all we've done in 2011 -- helping reform more than 50 policies in seven states and bringing student-centered reforms to 8.7 million children.

This is just the beginning. But our success has provided a rallying point for the special interest groups who oppose reform. To keep going, we need your help -- and to celebrate our first year, a generous donor has agreed to match up to $100,000 in member donations.

Double your impact now by donating $25, and help deliver world-class education to America's children.

Members like you have already made a huge difference. In Nevada, you helped pass transformative education reform and eliminate the crippling policy of 'last in, first out' (LIFO). That provided a successful, bipartisan blueprint for reform in states like Michigan and Maine. In California, you enabled parents to utilize their right to transform a failing school, and when we waded into legislative politics, like in New Jersey, you elected pro-student candidates who will help pave the way for reform. All this has been accomplished in just Year One.

We have significant plans for 2012. Our members will engage in new reform efforts in populous states like New York, Georgia, and New Jersey. We will head to Washington, DC to work with reform advocates on No Child Left Behind, ensuring that the revised law includes meaningful teacher evaluations and accountability measures.

In this election year, we will focus on turning over anti-reform seats. The message our members are sending has already resonated with voters, helping a new brand of grassroots pro-reform leaders to emerge. Going forward, candidates and public officials will be able to take courageous positions against the status quo, knowing we will have their backs.

With your continuing help, all this will be possible. Donate now to take ownership of these next steps, and a generous donor will double your impact:

http://www.studentsfirst.org/double-impact

The defenders of the status quo are ready to fight us for every inch of progress we make -- but we won't be intimidated. Our members won't stop until every American child receives a world-class education.

Thank you for joining us for an incredible first year.

Sincerely,

Michelle Rhee
CEO and Founder
StudentsFirst

PS: Yesterday, I hosted a conference call to review our progress in 2011 and our strategy going forward. Click here to listen.

From the website ... 2011 Impact - Our Member Annual Report

One year ago we launched on Oprah with a vision: To transform America’s schools through building a national grassroots movement of parents, teachers, students and concerned citizens who demand change.

We had a core belief that every child can learn and that equal access to a quality education is a civil right. But the stats show that we are failing our kids: two-thirds of fourth graders are unable to read and American students rank 25th out of 34 developing countries in math.

Outdated policies have to change in order for every child to have the opportunity to succeed and for our country to be competitive in the global economy. However bucking the status quo isn’t easy – the only way to create lasting change is to tap into hopes of the American people who share the belief that we can ensure the right to high quality education for every child when we put students interests first – change will only occur from the ground up.

This year we are proud to announce that within the coming weeks, we are projecting our grassroots movement will reach the one million member mark. Our members come from every state and include teachers, parents, principals and school board members. They are Democrats, Republicans and Independents; they are union members and corporate executives. And they range in age from middle school students to grandparents.

Through their organizing, our members have passed over 50 new policies in 7 states impacting the education of 8.7 million students. These policies include implementing meaningful teacher evaluations, ending the practice of laying off the best teachers under last-in-first-out (LIFO), expanding public charter opportunities, and empowering parents to turn around failing schools.

In Nevada, for example, our members supported a multi-million dollar ad campaign starring local teachers, and also lobbied both the Democratically controlled houses of the state legislature and the Republican Governor to pass student-centered reform into law. This bipartisan blueprint for reform surprised some observers but was replicated in some capacity elsewhere, including in Michigan and Maine. Our members also acted to successfully pass student-focused reforms in Tennessee, Florida, Ohio and Indiana.

When state bureaucrats in California threatened to weaken parental power to fix failing schools, our members rallied quickly and gathered nearly 2000 thousand petition signatures within 15 hours, presenting them at a State Board Hearing, and helping to implement a meaningful parent-trigger law.

But we are only at the beginning and we have a lot of work ahead. Our success has provided a rallying point for the special interest groups who oppose reform. We need your help to grow our movement and to take action in your community.

Sign the pledge to put StudentsFirst and recruit your friends, family and colleagues to join you.

Together we will fight on behalf of students until every American child get the quality education they deserve.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to working with you in 2012.