| Founder(s) | Jonah Edelman |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Key people | Jonah Edelman, President and CEO |
| Area served | Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington |
| Motto | Channeling the power of parents and educators to transform our public schools |
| Website | [1] |
Stand for Children is an American organization that is an independent and non-partisan advocate for American children's education. Founded in 1996 following the largest rally for children in American history,[1] the non-profit helps organize and mobilize citizen activists who care about children to fight for real changes in public education. Since 1999, Stand members have affected policy reforms and leveraged over $3.5 billion in public funding for programs to impact the lives of nearly 3.9 million children.[2][3] Over the years, Stand has shifted its focus from rallying for children’s issues to improving public education funding to changing the public education system. The organization is structured as both a 501(c)(4) grassroots advocacy organization called Stand for Children,[4] as well as a 501(c)(3) leadership and training organization called Stand for Children Leadership Center.[5]
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Stand for Children's mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education. To this end, they educate constituents, advocate for relevant policies and funding, monitor the implementation of policies and funding, and elect leaders aligned with their priorities.[6]
In order to execute Stand’s strategic goals, they structure their efforts on 5 core values:[7]
On June 1, 1996, over 300,000 people rallied in Washington, DC for “Stand for Children Day” at the Lincoln Memorial. This event was the largest demonstration for children in US history,[8] and it also sent a clear message about how strongly Americans felt about improving the lives of children across the country. Rosa Parks, civil rights movement icon, made a statement that challenged the people of nation to commit themselves to improving the lives of children, saying, "If I can sit down for justice, you can stand up for children."[9] Two days later, the cover of Time Magazine featured a young girl’s face with the headline, “Who Speaks for Kids?,” and an article inside had an interview with long-time children’s activist Marian Wright Edelman, the mother of Stand’s CEO and co-founder, Jonah Edelman.[10]
Following their work at the rally, Jonah Edelman and Eliza Leighton founded Stand for Children seeking to pursue ongoing advocacy for the nation’s children. The organization backed hundreds of rallies nationwide over the next two years,[11] but realized that the types of systemic changes they sought weren’t coming to fruition. Today, Jonah Edelman is the CEO of Stand for Children, and Eliza Leighton is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stand for Children Leadership Center.[12]
Edelman decided to study what other like-minded organizations were doing to accomplish more meaningful improvement in children’s lives, and thus put together a grassroots community organizing approach by opening affiliate offices in three states where he thought the situation was most dire, and he could make the most difference. Two of those states, Oregon and Tennessee, are still home to Stand offices, and Portland, Oregon is the seat of Stand’s headquarters, where Edelman moved in 1999 so that he could start working on the ground.[13] At the start, the ways in which the organization sought to help children were sweeping in scope, while victories were very localized. Over time, Stand grew in the direction of focusing on statewide issues—particularly public education funding, which seemed of highest concern to parents and other community members.[14]
Since 1999, Stand members have seen over 100 state and local victories and leveraged billions of dollars in public funding that affect the lives of nearly 4 million children.[15] After seeing successes in the effort to increase funding for public education, the organization decided to reassess its efforts. The organization saw that the problems it sought to solve couldn’t simply be dealt with from a financial angle but rather needed to be addressed with a vision for systemic change.[16] Currently, Stand is in a strategic expansion phase, broadening its reach to states where it believes it can make the most significant difference for children at all levels of government.[17]
Currently, Stand for Children has nine state affiliates: Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, and has plans to expand to more states. They are supported by national offices in Portland, Oregon, and Boston, Massachusetts.[18][19] While Stand for Children and Stand for Children Leadership Center are jointly led by CEO Jonah Edelman, they have distinct goals and methods of execution aligned with the sections of the federal tax code under which they are each described. Stand for Children, which is described under section 501(c)(4) is the grassroots advocacy group that works on the ground to mobilize concerned citizen activists at the local and state level to convince elected officials and voters to pass lasting and necessary education reforms (and to convince voters to hold elected officials accountable if they don’t).[20][21] Stand for Children Leadership Center is a section 501(c)(3) organization that trains ordinary people to be effective citizen leaders capable of solving problems facing children, both locally and statewide.[22]
In 2011, Stand for Children was cited in Time Magazine for “delivering results and changing how politicians think about grassroots education reform.” This acclaim was attributed to their work to improve school funding in Oregon, teacher evaluations in Colorado, and teacher policy in Illinois.[23]
Stand for Children’s Illinois office attracted the attention of political commentators in the state for both their historically record-breaking Fall 2010 Illinois election campaign contributions[24] and their support of the Performance Counts agenda,[25][26] a legislative proposal that would overhaul current policies in areas including tenure rules and educator evaluation.[27]
The Performance Counts legislative agenda passed the IL Senate with a 59-0 vote on April 15th. The IL House passed SB 7 on May 12th by a vote of 112-1-1. Governor Pat Quinn signed it into law on June 13, 2011. It was introduced and passed as Senate Bill 7 after months of open negotiations with all stakeholders, including Advance Illinois, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teacher’s Union, school management groups, Chicago Public Schools, and Stand for Children, and consensus was initially reached on Stand and Advance Illinois’ preferred reforms to teacher tenure, layoffs, and dismissal; principal discretion in hiring; and even on the contract negotiation process.[28][29][30] Nevertheless, Stand for Children has come under criticism for Jonah Edelman's account of their generously financed campaign for SB 7 and their clever outmaneuvering of the Chicago Teachers Union as well as the Illinois Education Association.[31]
Although a few people are upset about the process, the Chicago Tribune called Stand “a new force in Illinois politics.”[32] In all, two Chicago newspapers published editorials in favor of Performance Counts.[33][34][35] Some journalists questioned the $2.9 million raised by Stand for Children’s Illinois PAC due to the affiliate’s recent formation and fundraising in the months before a new Illinois law capped campaign contributions for individuals and corporations.[36][37] Due to these factors, detractors question the organization’s grassroots support in the state.