We often hear from the educational community that parents are not involved in their children’s education. But do the educators really want substantive parental involvement in education or are they blaming parents for students’ lack of achievement? Several states have what is called parent trigger laws which force school districts to either change leadership of a low performing school or convert the school to a charter school if more than 51 percent of the parents petition to do so. The parents in Compton, CA McKinley Elementary School became engaged, involved and pulled the trigger on their school. This is a very low income community which was very dissatisfied with the quality of education at their children’s school and was looking for a remedy.
Kevin Chavous, Black Alliance for Educational Options, discusses real parental involvement versus the faux parental involvement that the educational establishment wants. The involvement desired by the educator community is based on control of the parents, and making them feel they are involved. On the other hand, real parental involvement/engagement requires empowering parents and allowing them to choose the best educational options for their children. Yes, parents do know best. (read more in the Huffington Post)