Recently I attended the American Federation for Children’s policy summit in Washington, D.C. This event was an exciting, informative, two-day conference filled with panel discussions, keynote speakers such as Lisa Leslie and Mike McCurry, and networking opportunities with education reformers from all over the country. I left D.C. feeling similar to when I left the Foundation for Excellence in Education conference this past November. Invigorated. Energized. Hopeful.
But I also kept thinking these events should be experienced and enhanced, a thousand times over, by one very important, and missing, demographic.
Parents.
My background is important, but not necessarily the reason, why I want to see more parents at education conferences throughout the country. I have been a Democratic activist and community organizer for the last 25 years. I now organize parents for Step Up For Students. Perhaps that does influence my thoughts and opinions.
However, I remember suggesting more parental involvement after attending education conferences as a teacher. I simply expect more now. I expect parents to be included in every substantive event, conference, policy discussion, roundtable, and town hall meeting, and I’m routinely disappointed when they aren’t anywhere to be found.
Of course, many of the participants are parents as well as education reformers. We bring that passion for school choice from personal experiences. I can talk about years spent driving my children out of county to put them in a public school that worked for them and then utilizing scholarships a few years later when a private school better fit their needs.
But we should hear more stories from a diverse population of moms and dads.
At the AFC Conference, Dr. Alberta Wilson, president and CEO of Faith First Educational Assistance Corp. and consultant for Capstone Legacy Foundation, shared my concerns. At several sessions, she spoke from the audience to implore that more parents be included – at every level.
I caught up with her recently and asked her to elaborate.
“Parents should be involved,” she said. “They are the stewards of their children. If we continue to do things as we are doing them, we won’t be successful.”
I asked her to explain how attending conferences would benefit parents. She didn’t hesitate.
They’d see more of a connection between voting, public education and public schools. Involvement would also help them understand their right to make the call for their child’s education. This would also demonstrate accountability as more organizations call on parents to be involved before accessing certain choices. Invitations to conferences, as well as covering their expenses so they can attend, would encourage parents to learn and better understand the power of effective parenting.
“Focusing on legislators is great,” Dr. Wilson said, when speaking of the movement’s lobbying efforts. “But not if parents aren’t involved or on the ground.”
The benefit to moms and dads is clear. So how would it help the usual policy wonks, grassroots organizers and think tankers who attend these conferences?
Dr. Wilson believes it would provide reinforcement.
“Meeting families helps us frame our issues around real-life experiences,” she said. “After all, they are the reason we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Parents can tell us what’s working and what’s not working. They validate our hard work and can only enhance policy discussions by weighing in on solutions to long-term problems. They have a great demand for educational options, but only a limited supply is being offered. If we want to change that, we need to constantly educate ourselves on where to invest time and money, and parents can help us make those decisions.
More parent attendees and more panel discussions with and about parents at all education conferences will ensure they remain in the forefront of our movement – where they belong.
I might one of the few parents that actually follows this site on a daily basis. It is my experience that school who are recipients of these funds want to cash in the funds but do NOT care what the parent thinks or feels as we are “lucky” that they have even admitted our kids…. There is very little due process or resources to go to as parents. Especially as it relates to parochial schools that are exempt from ADA and proud of it!
I deeply agree with Dr. Wilson and Mrs. Robinson!
The public school model is not a fit for all children, especially for families who live in places where the schools are failing their students. I recently had the opportunity to attend one of Capstone Legacy Foundation’s Scholarship Awards Programs and was deeply moved with the passion of our parents fighting for their child’s educational future.
These parents desparately want their kids to have a chance. They fear that local schools will fail their children, and they may be right! My parents didn’t send me to a fancy private school, but they were able to send me to a suburban school that was safe and that offered a decent learning environment.
America has failed parents in the inner cities, and we need to give parents the chance to send their children to schools that will give them a fair chance in life. As a partner in a 60-year old business, I know that we need to make smart investments in education for the future. Capstone Lagacy’s scholarship program seems like the best way for me to help toward that goal right now.
We counsel children along with their parents and have been involved in education for well over 50 years. Parents need to be a part of learning and knowing what influences are there for their children. Not only do they feel the responsibility to properly care and teach their own children, but they can reinforce what good instruction comes to them. Parents need to be involved in what affects children on all levels. We believe that parents are responsible for teaching their children and selecting what their children should learn.
I am a parent of three school aged children. My youngest will be entering kindergarten in the upcoming school year and has a “disorder” called “selective mutism” which means, in environments with many other children/strangers, he will not speak. He has incredible intelligence. He turned 5 yesterday and has been reading (self-taught) for about 4 months now. He counts to 150 since he was 3 1/2. He would be lost in a public school setting with class sizes of 20+ children. This leaves me with only two options: private school or homeschool. I recently took a part-time job to bring in addtional income as my husband continues working 2 part time jobs plus side jobs just to keep the bills paid. Without financial assistance, we are not able to pay for private school. Sadly, the Christian private school my daughter (who will be in the 4th grade in the coming year) has attended since 4K announced 2 days ago that they will have to close their 1st – 8th grade school b/c of consistently declining enrollment – presumably due to the economy. Since public school is absolutely not an option for my older and youngest child, we will have to figure out a way to homeschool them.
There are absolutely NOT enough options without school choice. It is heart breaking and frustrating that this has become a political issue – not one that takes our children’s best interest to heart.
I am limited on time (my middle child has special needs – he is in public school in addition to therapy 2x a week) but I am passionate about the subject of school choice as I am currently living in the frustration of not having better options. Count me in – I would attend panel discussions to express my concerns. COUNT ME IN!!
There is already enough unavoidable negativity in ANY school system as it is–whether public or private. Although the public system is obviously worse, both public and private schools offer a significant amount of concern, even if the only concern is another student, rather it be one or one hundred and one that can act as a major hindrance of a child’s education. There are already enough circumstances that are beyond the parent’s control that they have to settle for, so why are there so many parents who settle for more than they already have to settle for? The answer to that question is the beginning of the solution to a slew of man’s problems from school choice to teen pregnancy. If I had to guess, it would be the distractions in the world that have taken parent’s attention off of their child whether it be intimate relationships, having to work all the time to pay the bills, health issues, or soap operas–distractions are distractions and the breeding place for problems.
Parents are indeed the stewards of their children and until enough parents realize that they, and not the school system (neither public nor private) are the stewards, then the schools will continue to “steward” the children in their system. It’s not too late, but I hope that it doesn’t take a fire to make people realize that the pot is smoking.
I have attended many Parent Engagement meetings for Faith First Educational Foundation over the past several years. The wonderful support, resources and encouragement I and other parents have received from Dr. Wilson have equipped us to be strong advocates for all aspects of our children’s education, as we should be.
Parent representation at education conferences will help to strengthen the partnership between parents and proponents of education reform. In addition, parents will have a platform to share vital input that can hopefully be incorporated into school choice initiatives.
I would love to serve as a panelist. Count me in!
DR. ALBERTA WILSON FOR PRESIDENT!