Jefferson County Students First Action is the grassroots organization that advocates for great public education in Jefferson County.
We organize parents and community members in Jefferson County who support every child having access to a high quality public education. We encourage sensible, pragmatic reform focusing on highly effective teachers; empowered principals and leaders; funding that follows the student; more choice and reduced bureaucracy.
Our organization is focused on advocating for increased student achievement, improving the education quality in our community. We support rewarding great teachers who are effective with students, and giving parents a voice in improving public education.
Education quality is one of the most important and empowering ways to provide every child with a lifetime of opportunity, and from 2012 to 2019, in Jefferson County, we saw an alarming trend of decline in key proficiencies. For example, in 2019, 75% of third graders weren’t reading proficiently, equating to about 3,750 students moving on to fourth grade without the skills necessary for reading proficiency. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Millions of American children get to fourth grade without learning to read proficiently, and that puts them on the high school dropout track.” These declines in academic achievement have happened despite spending increasing every year for the last five years.
Jefferson County Students First Action is here to raise awareness about the need for quality education in our community as well as identify the actions needed to assure improvements happen. Please join us in this important mission.