Ask people what they consider a top campaign issue this election season and they’ll probably tell you the same thing they said last election – education. Nearly every candidate for political office, not just those seeking seats on school boards, needs to have a clear vision for solving the emerging crisis in education, where money hasn’t kept up with demand and dollars alone aren’t solving the problem.
While it’s important that George Bush and John Kerry articulate a plan for funding education and establishing consistent national standards, it’s equally important we begin to solve this dilemma one household at a time. Statistics show that children whose parents are engaged in their education perform better in school. That’s not rocket science. We believe the the top predictor for success in school is parental involvement. When children see their parents take an interest in their education by getting involved at the school level, they learn that education is valued in their family and they’re expected to take it seriously, too.
Parents with students in one local district may have been surprised by last week’s Herald headline, “Marysville Schools want 20 hours per year from parents.” While the school board doesn’t believe for a moment that this emerging policy will be easy to accomplish or perhaps even enforceable, the effort to involve families in the educational process is not only laudable, it’s possible.
According to Larry Nyland, the new superintendent in the Marysville, it’s all about the three Rs – not the traditional reading, writing and ‘rithmatic – relationships, resources and results. Although he’s only been on the job for a month or so, he has already rolled up his sleeves and is working on each of the Rs, appropriately focusing on students. He knows that setting a goal to increase parental involvement is no easy task. But he’s looking at what other districts have done to improve in this area. And he’s open to creative ideas that offer parents as many ways to volunteer as their kids have to get involved in school. It will be up to Nyland and the school board to develop a creative and accessible plan for parents to embrace in the coming months and years.
Given the financial status of the district, some may wonder if this is an attempt to trim the budget. Parental involvement is hardly a money-saving proposition. Parents are not taking the place of teachers. It’s about establishing community values by giving our time.
We’re not saying it’s going to be easy. But, we can’t expect our Legislature to refocus its efforts on making education this state’s top priority until we do so ourselves – as many parents have done already. A dramatic increase in parent involvement can’t help but get local and federal leaders’ attention as they set priorities and policies that will impact our country’s students for decades.
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