[my comment to Society for Quality Education on post — "What About The Others?" http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2014/08/when-will-the-dam-burst-for-parents/
This was a guest column and here is the gist of it: “I became a teacher in 2002, so that I could help my daughter from within the system. She has a learning disability.” She ends up by asking what she can do for others: “I am really concerned that all children reach their own potential and that the schools need to aid that path to success.” This was my reply.]
When Will The Dam Burst Regarding Parent Rights In Schools?
Today, we are dealing with the story of a parent who was motivated to become a teacher so as to help her own (special needs) child maximize her potential using the services provided by the subsidized public school system. It worked. The child is now a self-supporting taxpayer. Good going Mom. Now, the Mom wants to help others: What’s the best approach?
Seems to me what is happening in BC right now may give some hope and ideas. But, surely, we don’t need a nasty teacher strike to get parents into the picture, do we? Pressure-cooker valves are ready to start popping soon!
You know, it’s not easy to say what might work for a broader population of parents. I myself have been involved in the parent cause for over 45 years, and one thing I do lament is the fact of insiders (that is, teachers who are parents, for example) having an unfair advantage in capitalizing on scarce services.
http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2013/08/teachers-as-parents-are-hugely-advantaged-unfair/
But, let’s put things on the table, and apply some perspective, and maybe something will arise. As I said, in BC, I see new ground being broken. The parent group is getting noisier. The social media is full of considerable back and forth with a lot of pushback comments against teachers who say they are doing it (the strike) “for the children” — “our working conditions are their learning conditions”!
It is significant that the BC government is offering a per diem ($40 day for 12 and under kids) to parents who will be deprived of their chosen public school come September. For education or daycare. This does show a recognition and verification that ultimately, it is the parents who are responsible for education and that the collected taxpayer dollars will follow the intended client, the student.
The history of parent involvement in education is dismal.
This is my opinion: This is the case of a natural, birthright, biological right and duty of parents toward their children’s development and education having been usurped by an industry (which, BTW, grows ever larger and bolder every year).
This is chronicled in “Parents and Schools – the 150-year struggle for control in American education” by William Cutler (2000). 14 years ago he ended his book with an excellent paragraph (too long for this post) summarized here: “A cycle of failure will repeat if the home and the school continue to follow their historical paths . . . families and schools are farther apart than ever before . . . Communication is the key to reaffirming their interdependence. Without it, there cannot be the reciprocity that once seemed to describe the relationship between the home and the school.”
On second thought, perhaps this paragraph and this book may be a starting point. Especially since we DO know that parent rights do exist but that they are relatively invisible (see my link above). Maybe a heightened awareness that a few parents do appreciate the entitlements provided and most DON’T might trigger some written parent rights for all. Stark unfairness is a great motivator for reform.
In the UK there was a move by the government to mandate schools to be more responsive to parents. The National Association of Head Teachers put on a course — Parents: Partners or Enemies? I’m not sure how that went.