Julie Woestehoff

Woestehoff, Julie

Julie Woestehoff was a long-time education advocate who served as the executive director of the Chicago organization Parents United For Responsible Education (PURE), and a founding member of the national group Parents Across America (PAA). She found joy when she could help children and their parents stand up and be active participants in their own education. After two years of significant health challenges Julie died Feb. 25 in the hospital with her husband at her side.

Julie was born in 1952 in Rochester, Minnesota. She was the third of the four children of Dr. E.S. and Ann Woestehoff. Julie spent time in Chicago when her father taught at the University of Chicago, and returned to the area when she attended Northwestern. She got her BA in Comparative Literature and then took a year to work in Germany to improve her German. During that year she met another American student, Larry Turpin, and they bonded over baking and being in a foreign country. They married in 1975. In 1976, they moved to Chicago and Julie attended U of C to study the Valkyries, the warrior maidens of Norse mythology.

They had two sons; after several frustrating episodes at their local school, Julie was convinced that instead of studying Valkyries, she needed to become one. She found that her local school was not complying with current laws and was misusing their magnet program. She started reading education law and ultimately forced the district to re-do its principal selection process. When Local School Councils formed and had their first election Julie got the most votes at her school. She became LSC chair and ended up at a PURE training for LSC members. She became a volunteer there and, eventually, the executive director of the organization.

Julie organized many efforts to help Chicago schools. She held protests in front of the downtown Walgreen's when it was discovered that they and other local businesses were withholding funds they owed public schools. PURE filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights that

forced Chicago schools to stop using standardized tests in ways that broke the law. When the school CEO proposed parent report cards, Julie made two appearances on the TODAY show explaining that their plan was more likely to alienate parents than encourage them. Julie met Leonie Haimson from NYC while appearing on Rev. Jessie Jackson's radio show and they formed the PAA. Together they wrote a widely-cited article for Ed Week critiquing President Obama's Blueprint for Reform. The Chicago Sun-Times named Julie as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Chicago and the whole staff of PURE was chosen by the Ford Foundation for a Leadership for a Changing World Award. Julie retired in 2018.

Julie is survived by her husband Larry Turpin, her sister Kristin Ziama and brother Mark Woestehoff, her sons Anders and Sten, his wife Kristin Hanson Turpin, and their two sons. The family is hosting an open house on March 8, 11-5.

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