A reader writes–and I agree with him. A good place to start is to go to the website of Parents Across America. This is a national organization of activist parents who understand what is happening. They oppose high-stakes testing and privatization and they support teachers and professionalism. They are smart and they are fearless. Learn about PAA and reach out to the parents you know. You have interests in common: You both care about the same kids.
| It is important to enlist parents in the fight. Easier said than done, I know, but we are toast if parents blithely accept the “value” being imparted on their kids.
As a group, we teachers have contributed to our relatively weak position by leaving parents out or worse. School policy should be driven by students, parents and teachers. Were we a collective, people who aren’t paying particular attention now would see who is actually deciding what schools should be and what their interests are.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Enlisting parents is no easy task. At least not in my school. Every year more than half my students opt for charter schools. Charters don’t allow pre-k yet so parents have no choice.
Many parents see charters as a magic bullet and those children who are compliant do well.
As a result, my school continues to have more and more high needs students; students whose parents already know that the charters won’t take their child and students who are been “counseled out of a charter” and are back in my school. It’s a downward spiral.
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“It’s a downward spiral” and a tragedy too!
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I agree that we do ourselves a disservice by leaving parents out of the equation. I have spent the last 15 years working to engage parents and work in partnership with them. I have worked in high (95%) poverty schools and many of our students are at risk. It is our job to open our doors to parents and not be judgmental of their parenting styles. It is not easy for some teachers who feel uncomfortable with parents. Teachers are trained to teach children, but not to deal with parents. Administrators have to understand that parents are the foundation. When we earn their respect and trust, we can begin to make rebuild what is being destroyed. We can only do this by treating them with respect, no matter what, because they are the parents. Without them we have no students. When we create a school environment that parents feel comfortable in, then we will have won half the battle. It is our job to create positive school environments regardless of the circumstances. No excuses! Let’s unite and work together.
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I am a teacher in New Jersey who has found a parent who is willing to work with me to help create a parent-teacher group that would meet regularly to discuss educational topics that we find in various media. It would be essentially a reading circle that includes parents and teachers, and gives all a chance to voice their opinions on matters that seem pertinent to our school. We are looking to use what we encounter to help improve the education of our students. Our school serves 3rd through 5th graders in a distinct town known for its diverse population. We’ve been researching and looking for anyone in America who has started or is running a similar group. If you or anyone else knows of such a thing, or something similar, please let me know. Thanks!
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Check the website of Parents Across America.
Also google Jersey Jazzman and Mother Crusdaer, both Jersey bloggers
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