Mentoring parents

This is what I tried to convey to magnet school parents in the summer of 2006 when I answered their candidate survey. I asked them to mentor parents that didn't know how to work the system.

Jerry D. Weast, the schools superintendent in Montgomery County, Md., was recently asked what he was doing to improve low-performing schools. His answer should serve as a wake-up call for school districts throughout the nation.

Weast replied that his public school district spends big bucks every year trying to teach low-income parents “how to kick my butt … how to work the system just like affluent people.”

With that vivid statement, Weast spoke volumes about both the need for involving parents inside their children’s schools, and the reality of making that happen—especially in struggling communities that desperately need engaged parents. Education Week

This should be on the top of the mayor's Project for Students Success committee's recommendations.