Parental Involvement

It is very common to hear educators complain about the lack of parental involvement in our schools. They complain because they know that when parents are involved with their childrens' schools their childrens' grades improve. In the 20 years I have served Choctaw County’s schools I’ve heard a lot of talk about increasing parental involvement. Unfortunately, a lot of talk does not produce results. We must take concrete steps to increase parental involvement.

I know that what I am going to say next will raise some people’s blood pressure. So be it. The truth will set you free, but first it may make you mad. The truth is this: while we say we want parental involvement in our schools, what we actually try to produce is parental support and approval for what we have already decided to do. These are not the same things.

My first college degree was in communications with a minor in public relations. Anyone who knows the first thing about public relations will tell you that the way to get people involved in an enterprise is to empower them. In other words, allow people to have input before decisions are made rather than try to get them to support your decision after the fact.

Fortunately, we already have a vehicle to facilitate parental involvement: the PTO. Unfortunately, most of our parents are not members of the PTO. This will not change as long as our PTOs function only as support groups rather than groups whose input is sought and valued. This will not change as long as PTO meetings revolve around what parents can do for our schools and ignore what our schools can do for parents. Typically, PTO meetings devolve into discussions as to how parents can raise money for the schools. While there is nothing wrong with this in and of itself, this is not enough. Asking parents to raise money time and time again without ever offering them anything in return inevitably discourages PTO involvement. Our PTOs need to offer programs that will equip parents with tools they can use to help their children do better in school.

In the past, there have been times that we have actually thwarted parents who want increased involvement in our schools. For example, a caring and dedicated PTO member at one school volunteered to write a periodic newsletter to keep parents informed about the school and its programs. This is a simple, cost effective way that nearly all good schools use to increase parental involvement. Apparently, administrators felt the newsletter told too much about the school and censored it so heavily that the parent was discouraged from continuing. In a separate instance, administrators discouraged “Homeroom Parents” from meeting outside of the school to explore ways they could help their childrens' teachers be more effective. Apparently, administrators felt they would have too little control over meetings held off school property.

This last incident is indicative of the over-riding problem with our schools. Many administrators believe they must control every aspect of our childrens' educations. It’s time we recognized that America is a democracy, not a monarchy. No public educator should exercise the divine right of kings to make decisions that affect our children’s lives without our input. It is time for the public to take back our public schools. If I am elected Superintendent I will make parental involvement and parental input a priority. I will never discourage parents who take the initiative in improving our schools. If you are supporting other candidates, ask them if they’ll pledge to do the same. If they won’t, find another candidate.

Until next time, may God bless you and your children.
Bob Mamrak