Sunday, August 29, 1999
Ten ways to become a school activist
BY LINDA CAGNETTI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Every new school year, I imagine a frustrated parent storming into a school and demanding that all students write a complete, grammatically correct sentence. Wrong approach, maybe, but the right idea.
Parents who are frustrated with education days might speak up if they had more time or understood the issues better. Or, if they weren't intimidated or stonewalled by administrators.
Fortunately, that's changing. After several decades of top-down reforms that have failed students and made schools almost unrecognizable to anyone over age 20, parents and other citizens finally are getting off the bench and into the game.
They're realizing that public education has become an industry, controlled by professional groups (unions, lobbyists, etc.), that engineer school laws and rules. The school train is so loaded with special-interest passengers that students are lost in the crowd and parents and taxpayers aren't even aboard.
Parents are learning several sobering lessons about school reform: (1) It's about politics, not about kids. (2) It's tough for the public to be included. (3) It is not for the faint of heart.
But they're getting involved anyway, chipping away at the bureaucratic fortress and helping ever-so-slowly to remake schools and create new ones. They're providing something schools need: clear thinking and common sense.
Read Elaine McEwan's excellent Angry Parents, Failing Schools: What You Can Do About It.She's a parent, former teacher, principal and administrator who explains how subtle changes in teaching and curriculum have resulted in nothing short of an overthrow of education as we know it. Every parent and taxpayer should be aware of the changes. These are NOT mere clashes of opinions. They're taxpayer-funded, long-term changes, done mostly without the knowledge or consent of parents or the public.
Ms. McEwan shows how dozens of ordinary parents and teachers have become extraordinary activists. “Each started by observing, researching and questioning what they found in their child's schoolroom. Today they're writing newsletters, lobbying legislators, forming charter schools, writing in national newspapers and making their presence felt far beyond their own schools,” she says.
This year, vow to educate yourself about all sides of the debates, and then wade in somewhere. Here are 10 basics, plus a resource list, to get you started.
1. BE AN INFORMED VOTER. It's the least you can do. On tax levies, listen to all sides. It's not easy, but decide if the amount is reasonably justified by schools, how they'll spend the money, and if they're educating children well with what they have. Pay equal attention to local and state school board elections. These folks are (or should be) managing your child's learning and millions of your tax dollars. Unions, administrators and special interest groups promote their candidates; if you want candidates to represent other viewpoints, recruit them or consider it yourself. Find out what each candidate believes about education (beyond obvious rhetoric). Make a list of what you think is important and use it as your guide. These folks can have tremendous clout and are supposed to represent you. Make sure you vote, or don't complain.
2. LEARN THE LINGO. All education ideas sound good — that's why educators have their own jargon, and why many half-baked ideas get sold to the public and legislators. Nobody understands all they entail, except insiders. For example, “whole language” and phonics are radically different ways to teach reading, at the center of the reading wars. Learn the buzz words and their implications. You'll find radically different definitions depending on who writes them. Read all you can find before you decide. You can find glossaries in books, school literature and from advocacy groups. As you learn the jargon, you'll discern trends, patterns and agendas.
3. LISTEN TO ALL SIDES. Understand the basic “education war” between traditional vs. progressive agendas. This comes down to what schools should teach first: reading, writing, arithmetic? Or global citizenship, job skills and self-esteem? Can we do it all? We've been trying. Think it's working? Ask a good teacher who's supposed to cram a dozen things into a short day. You'll find radically different interpretations of the same thing. You'll learn the game of “spin” and how different groups sell their ideas.
Read the websites of the state department of education and the leg islatures, or ask someone to do it for you. Seek out local, state or national groups devoted to issues you care most about and get on their mailing lists.
4. BECOME TECHNO-LITERATE. Electronic technology is dramatically changing how kids live and learn. It has lots to offer; learn to take an active role in the way it is used at home and at school. The Plugged-In Parent: What you should know about kids and computers, by Steve Bennett, is a place to start. Education Today publishes a terrific overview called The Electronic School.
Learn to use the Internet yourself. It's the quickest, easiest way to find education organizations. You'll find websites devoted only to reading, the latest education legislation, the archives of Education Week, etc., and direct contact with other parent advocates of every political persuasion.
5. UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES. If you'd rather be flogged than read policy-wonk stuff, wade in gently on a single topic that interests you — reading, taxes, character education, whatever. These inevitably will lead you to major reforms such as Goals 2000, academic standards and “school to work” programs. You'll find people who believe these are the greatest things since sliced bread and others who believe it threatens everything Americans hold dear. Whatever you believe, they're important debates because they involve what kids will learn in school and who will decide.
6. KNOW YOUR LEGISLATORS. You can affect rules that control schools at local, state and national levels by speaking up to your elected representatives. Know who they are and call or write them about education issues you care about. Know the chairperson of state House and Senate education committees. Communicate with facts and reason. They're overwhelmed with issues. Parents often lose a fight because they didn't do their homework. Lawmakers need to know you as a source of solid information, whatever your bias. Don't forget to thank them when they vote your way.
7. JOIN OR START A PARENT GROUP. The Cincinnati chapter of Parents for Public Schools is one of 50 chapters nationwide, focused on helping parents improve schools. It works mostly within the system and helps parents hold schools to high standards. Other local groups focus on tax reform, school choice, special education, etc. Some parents, such as Richard Innes of Kentucky, become experts in one area. He concentrates on KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) testing results. His watch-dogging has led to major changes. The School Reform Handbook: How to Improve Your School, published by the parent-founded Center for Education Reform, is a how-to gold mine on this and much more.
8. READ PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. Open Records laws give you the right to review all kinds of school documents — from meeting minutes and lesson plans to syllabi and grant applications. It's not easy to get them, but it can be done. Check out the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or ask the state attorney general's office about appropriate requests. Most districts have a multi-year improvement plan, as well as summary and detailed budgets. Read original documents whenever possible, instead of press releases.
9. COMPLAIN WISELY AND GROW A THICK SKIN. Vigilant, assertive parents may take a lot of heat when they buck the status quo. Administrators, even school boards, may put you on the defensive, make you look foolish or uninformed. Be prepared for diversionary tactics. (These folks go to workshops on how to deal with public criticism.) Learn from others who do their homework and present arguments so they're heard. Never wing it. Be polite, but be persistent.
10. TAKE HEART. Grass-roots school reform is not for wimps. Setbacks go with the territory. Find support and encouragement from others with the same goals. Don't give up easily. You don't have to win the war; just be faithful to your ideals on your watch. Schools and kids need you.
Linda Cagnetti is Deputy Editorial Page Editor. Email her at letters@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8527.
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