Few parents turn out to hear education-related message
BROWNSVILLE – Not many parents came out Thursday to hear a message that mostly pointed out the importance of parent participation in their children’s education. Dr. Anthony Tezik, Pennsylvania Department of Education regional coordinator for the Division of Federal Programs, spoke to a room containing just a few more than 30 people at Cox-Donahey Elementary Thursday about the importance of parent involvement in their child’s education.
“We have a lot of parents out there tonight. I commend you for coming, but what are your ideas to get more parents involved?” Tezik asked the crowd.
Tricia Sabatula, a member of the Brownsville Area School District Title 1 parent advisory committee, the organization that sponsored the program, said only about 10 of the people in the audience were actually parents. The rest were administrators and teachers.
John Joseph, the district’s director of Title 1 and federal funding, said he had hoped for about 80 parents to participate but said Thursday’s number was “a start.”
Tezik’s message pertained to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the parent’s role in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing process.
He also advised parents of their right to know what is going on in the school and also how they can become more involved with their child’s education at school and at home.
“The (NCLB) looks at results. It makes everyone accountable, parents, teachers, principals, administrators, board members and us at the state level. Everyone has a vested interest. We’re trying to get more parents involved; they are an intrigral part of the education process,” Tezik said.
According to Tezik it is a proven fact that students whose parents are involved in their education perform better than those students whose parents are not.
“When schools work together with families to support learning, children are inclined to succeed not just in school but throughout life,” he said.
Tezik said the first step is opening the lines of communication. He said school district should inform parents and welcome them in the schools. He said parents should feel like a part of “the partnership.”
“This is a collaborative effort between students, parents teachers, administrators, the school board and the state,” he said.
“We want to see America’s schools bet he best schools in the world. We want to stop purchasing from over seas.”
To better incorporate parents into the education system, Tezik suggested involving parents in planning development and training of school staff.
He suggested paying for transportation and child care so parents can participate in training sessions and meetings; training parents to train other parents on how to work with their children and arranging in-home conferences if parents can’t get out to the schools.
Joseph said that the district already does provide some of those services. He said transportation is available at a very minimal cost to parents who wish to attend seminars and conferences provided by the district.
“We try to get as many parents involved. We take as many steps as we can. We try to provide parents with as much information as we can, but most of the time it’s the wrong parents who are here,” Joseph said.
But Sabatula said the district has more work to do.
She said she was not aware of a lot of Tezik talked about concerning parent’s rights to have input on the forming of Title 1 policy (federal programs).
She said the district needs to open the lines of communication with the parents more.
“They are lacking when it comes to informing parents. I had to find out through a teachers’ conference that my son was even in the Title 1 program. I never received notification,” Sabatula said.
“It’s important for parents to be involved. People think just cause their kid is in school they are being taken care of.”