Parents for School Change!

“And I’ve said this all across the country when I talk to parents about education, government has to fulfill its obligations to fund education, but parents have to do their job too. We’ve got to turn off the TV set, we’ve got to put away the video game, and we have to tell our children that education is not a passive activity; you have to be actively engaged in it. If we encourage that attitude and our community is enforcing it, I have no doubt we can compete with anybody in the world.” -- Barack Obama
 

The involvement of parents and the support of the greater community are an integral part of student success, and a critical part of the school reform initiative.  As tentative plans are being discussed, we have been encouraged by the mayor and superintendent’s efforts to engage the whole community in dialogue about the new school initiative.  
 
 On November 5, Mayor John DeStefano and Superintendent Dr. Reginald Mayo invited parent leaders from each district school to participate in a forum on the importance of parent leadership in school change.  Among other discussions, parents at the forum learned of and gave feedback on plans to make student data available to parents online; to have formal parent representation in the reform planning process; and to increase parent turnout for Report Card Nights. 

 
But this is just the beginning!  School officials have committed to developing formal means to work with parent leaders on new initiatives and how best to engage more parents in school activities.  Follow-up with this group will continue through the remainder of the school year.
 

Click here to read a summary of the Citywide PTO Committee meeting on June 3, 2010
Click here to read a summary of the Citywide PTO committee meeting on April 1, 2010
Click here to read a summary of the Citywide PTO Committee meeting on March 4, 2010
Click here to read a summary of the Citywide PTO Committee meeting on February 4, 2010

Click here to read notes from the PTO discussion on Janury 7, 2010.
Click here to read notes from the Parent Leadership Forum on November 5.
 

Join the School Change Campaign today to get announcements about future meetings, or to find out what other parents and community groups are doing to support the plan.  Also, check in on this page often to give feedback on specific topics and to connect with other involved parents.