Sunday, I received an email pointing to an article in the Hartford Courant, Moms, Dads Urged To Be Stronger Advocates. The article spoke about a meeting organized by CT Parent Power, “a statewide parent action network with a history of strengthening the voices of parents on the many decisions that affect our children and families.”

They advocate subversive activities like encouraging “members to register to vote” and “to go to their children's schools”. It was interesting to see the responses. For some reason a bunch of people don’t think parents should be involved and one went so far as to claim, “Parent Advocacy is NOT linked to better student performance”. Those looking for real information are encouraged to check out the research summary of the National Middle School Association.

Today, I received an email pointing me to another article in the Hartford Courant, I Am...Running for Mayor about Raul De Jesus’ campaign to become Mayor of Hartford. It is feel good sort of article and I wondered what is behind Raul’s campaign. The issues page of his campaign website leads off with Education, and his first point is about Parental Participation.

Educating our kids is a task that not only lies in the hands of leadership in our community but also lies in the hands of the parents. Many are single household parents and have more than one job. I acknowledge the effort that many put into our school system. Sometimes due to fact that they are multi-tasking, it’s easy for them to forget to allocate the time for their kids’ education.

He goes on to talk about "Parents Report Cards". He then tackles Outside Suspensions noting that in 2005-2006 there were 13,159 suspensions which he considers to be schools avoiding the real issues. He suggest he “would replace outside suspension with inside suspension and supervised community service.” He goes on to talk about public safety and taxes, and of course, he has a Register to Vote link on his webpage.

Soon after I got the email about Raul, I received an email about New York State’s Parenting Education Graduation Requirement. I don’t know of this requirements talk about the importance of parental participation in schools, but I sure hope that is does.

Raul is right to note the difficulties some parents have in finding time to be involved in their children’s schools. However, it is worth noting that this involvement doesn’t have to be an onerous task. This weekend, Kim is helping with the Halloween Hoot organized by the Beecher Road School Parent Teacher Organization and I am sure that everyone will have a good time.

I hope and expect that the majority of my readers are already very involved in their children’s schools. Good for you. I hope that some of these stories will re-enforce your commitment to be involved and provide useful thoughts for when you talk with others about the importance of parental involvement.