Becky Glover, left, Thomas Young and Dick Molpus, talk shop at the Neshoba County Fair. Molpus is the founder of Parents for Public Schools. Glover and Young currently work for the national educational organization.

    The trio sitting on the front porch of cabin 22 on Founder’s Square at the Neshoba County Fair was a diverse little group.

    On one hand you had Thomas Young who has been instrumental in the past with getting voters to the polls. Then there was Becky Glover, a parent coach at the national office of the Parents for Public Schools headquartered in Jackson.

    And then there was one of the founding members of the PPS, Dick Molpus, who along with other parents first organized PPS in the living room of his Jackson home in 1989. All three have one thing in common: to break the chain of subpar education for Mississippi students and to get their parents more involved in the children’s school work.

    “We know that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty issues and we attempt to do that by increasing the involvement of parents in schools,” said Glover, who covers the East Mississippi counties.

    PPS is a national organization of community-based chapters in 18 cities in 15 states. PPS strives to work with public school parents and other supporters to improve and strengthen local public schools. Young, who is currently part of the Poverty Study Circle with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said quality public education is vital to our democracy and to America’s future.

    “We tell parents there is a correlation between their support of their children and schools and successful school districts,” said Young.

    Molpus said it is essential parents learn more about how their schools work. He said unlike Parent Teacher Associations, PTAs, the PPS crosses individual school boundaries to try and improve school districts thereby increasing the effectiveness of the state’s educational system.

    Much of the focus for the children and parents is in the public housing areas of cities, Young said. He said transportation is a problem for some to get to school functions, such as meetings. In addition, many of those parents in public housing grew up in homes where education was not a high priority. Young said this cycle has to change.

    “Many of the parents today didn’t have positive, educational role models,” Young said. “We have to show them how to be that positive educational role model for their children.”

    Molpus said there is strength in numbers. The PPS tries to get parents together for their children so they don’t feel alone and to better get the attention of school officials.

    “That is why we’ve begun the Parent Leadership Institute,” Glover said. “It is a six-day workshop that shows parents how to ask questions, how to read data from schools and how to get the best from their schools.”

    Thomas said teaching the parents about their schools and their children’s education will serve the next generations to come.