Parents: Time to Get Organized

Abstract

SEVERAL months ago, an organized protest and boycott by some California parents abruptly ended a fast-food chain's practice of offering free calorie-laden treats to students with good grades. And yet, parent organizing groups in the same state complain that they cannot get beyond the rude office staff at children's schools. Apparently, the power of customers' purses means something in the private sector, but the power of the customer parents in the public sector runs into a wall. True, everyone knows that helicopter parents--the ones who hover over children even in classrooms--have some leverage in schools for the middle and upper classes. But the people inside schools generally have the most power over what happens to children's education. And they will continue to hold it as long as they provide the definition of sound parent involvement, which for many educators still means bake sales and showing up on time for meetings with teachers. Conservative economic theorists and activists have tried to change this imbalance by proposing that parents be given greater choices. More affluent parents already have and use such choices, either in the selection of where they live or in know-how about how to work the system and get into the schools they want or get children the teachers they want. Low-income parents, however, seem to lack enthusiasm for sending children to other schools where the academics might be better but where they have no guarantee that children will be treated any better. At the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) this year, parent involvement issues were prominent because they were embedded in the meeting's theme about schools and civic responsibility. Although often using convoluted titles, the research seems to be giving parents a simple one-word message: organize. Even one of the most prominent researchers on parent involvement, Anne Henderson, who has recently updated Beyond the Bake Sale, her popular review of research and practice, and has always promoted school/family partnerships, commented that partnerships are not possible unless there is equal power, which comes from organizing by parents. Most of the examples from the research focused on safe places that don't require direct collaboration with the schools. La Manzana Community Resources, serving communities around Watsonville, California, south of San Jose, for example, established a center where even migrant families find a way to communicate to teachers and administrators. Eduviges Caballero, who picked strawberries for 10 years in the fields, helped hundreds of parents write letters to teachers about their dreams for children. She worked with the center to turn themes from the letters into mini-dramas, which are presented to groups in the area. Parents now are recording digital stories to give to teachers. Another AERA session highlighted the Urban Parent Teacher Education Collaborative, a joint effort of Pepperdine University and the Parent-U-Turn organization in Los Angeles County. Anthony Collatos of Pepperdine and Mary Johnson, now head of the LA Parent Collaborative, co-teach a course--at parent centers--for aspiring teachers. One point Johnson drives home with the student teachers is that it takes only a few informed parents to hold a school accountable, but to be effective, active parents must also be seen not just as rebels but in other roles such as community volunteers. …