Parental Imperative

Parents have a unique sense about their children’s needs and, more often than not, have more context and experience about the continual conflict bubbling under the surface of their children's lives than anyone else may have. It is imperative to have parents involved in our schools—it’s their children’s futures at stake. I've spoken with thousands of parents over the last year or so, and many have expressed the frustration at how distant the school board is to them. What this district needs is a sounding board for the community, especially for parents, and that is why I am running for the school board.
Some have misinterpreted my desire to have more active parental involvement with the school board as potentially inviting interference in the classroom by overzealous or hovering parents. While their concern is legitimate, nothing could be further from the truth. To better understand what I mean by having parents more involved in the school board, let me explain my philosophy of public education as succinctly as possible.
Teaching students to be productive and virtuous citizens is the fundamental reason for public education. I believe that teachers’ primary responsibility should be to teach. If they are teaching according to the standards developed by the state and the district, they should be free to exercise some judgment and not have to deal with uninvited interference in their classroom, except for a regular assessment by their administrator. Principals should have control of their schools and make sure that their students are satisfying state standards and educational requirements. The school board is there to mediate between the several schools and the community, including parents, business people and taxpayers. The board then makes the big and controversial decisions about bonds, curriculum, school closures, salary negotiations, etc. while interfacing with the public. As an elected body, the school board is controlled by the will of the voters and may be kept or replaced every few years. It behooves them to continually interface with the community and not relegate opposition to their decisions to the sidelines as they do now. By being amenable to the voices of parents and interfacing with them according to their concerns, does not necessarily mean that they are going to have any unreasonable control over the critical decisions schools have to regularly make.
Many active parents sought me out to run for the board—I did not do this on my own volition. Once I realized the problems we faced (which are many-fold and have been unnecessarily complicated over the years) were real and significant, I decided to take this responsibility on head first, just as a concerned parent would do whether it be as a member of the site council, PTA or booster club. I couldn't stand by and watch my son's education be taken for granted. It is shortsighted to think that I have all the answers to providing the perfect educational experience--I don't. Neither do the teachers. Neither do the principals. Neither do the education specialist. However, we are successful in molding achieving and responsible students by demonstrating leadership at the top. I doubt there will be complaints that I am not accessible enough. I am open to any and all suggestions to make this district the best in the state, as it once was not that long ago.
One more note on teachers: My hat is off to them. They do yeoman's work in the trenches at times with little reward or recognition. However, a credential does not give teachers psychic abilities. Ask most parents what Little Johnny and Little Susie need and 95 times out of 100, they’ll know what is best for them. Parents should be allowed to communicate that information to the school, provided it is in an appropriate manner. We have back to school nights, open houses and parent-teacher conferences for that reason. Good teachers will listen to parents and teach accordingly. It is possible for a good parent to make a good teacher's job a little easier with that information.