The unheard voices in the recent debates

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September 13, 2009

B The Meridian Star Sun Sep 13, 2009, 12:16 AM CDT

By Norbert D. Luster

guest columnist

As evidenced by the recently held forums and gatherings concerning our public schools, parents are clearly involved and ready to help their children succeed academically, but they need more and better information and tools from all schools to do so—ranging from how to help with home-work to how to get their children into college. Many of these parents themselves have had poor experiences in school dealing with the Teacher/Student relationship which many times was never established. Now these Parents feel that the teacher still have the power, and they still cannot relate. Many of these parents themselves have dropped out of school at an early age due to pregnancy and or other social reasons.

Our recent educational debates have often ended in the blame game, pointing fingers and accusing those parents that were not in attendance as not caring enough. Research shows that when parents are actively involved in their children’s education, it makes an overwhelming difference in the child’s performance and behavior. Not only do their children perform better, but the schools get better as well. (Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp, A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement). Students whose parents are involved tend to be more engaged academically, socially, and mentally. All parents in Meridian/Lauderdale County share high aspirations and dreams for their children. Regardless of the parents’ ethnicity, income or the school their child attends, all share a common desire for a happy and rewarding future for their children.

Parents clearly want their children to succeed. However, they often don’t have an understanding of what their involvement actually can produce in their child’s performance nor how the school and the community benefit from their individual involvement. School districts should not take anything for granted and should not assume that parents know how to get involved or even that they know that they should be involved. Therefore, every outreach and school orientation is extremely important, especially for parents that are less familiar with the education system and how it works.

Some parents feel that schools have failed in their early outreach and notification of problems involving their children. Many of them feel that the messages get out only when the schools want assistance with raising money or need volunteers for a special event. Of course, these things are important, too; however, schools need to take steps to ensure not only that communication is ongoing but that their messages are delivered in a variety of ways in order to the reach all of the parents, regardless of their education or socio-economic level. In Meridian as with the rest of the country, there is a greater share of two parent households where both parents are working, and many single-parent households are working multiple jobs to just make ends meet. The easier that our school districts make it for these parents to meet school, work obligations, and other life commitments, the more likely it is that parents will be more engaged, engaging and involved.

Parents for Public Schools of Meridian/Lauderdale County (PPSMLC) will be undertaking a survey to assess the resources parents have available to them in order to create an environment that includes all parents in the education of their children, not just the parents that attend forums. PPS will serve as liaisons between both school districts and parents helping to identify ways to include otherwise disengaged parents.

A Parent's Involvement in Their Child's Education is The Single Most Important Factor in Academic Success!

Norbert D. Luster is president of Parents for Public Schools, Meridian, Lauderdale County Chapter.

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