This article originally appeared in the March-April 2005 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Traditional models of parent involvement in schools, such as volunteering in classrooms, often don't work in low-income communities, says Maisie Chin-because too often teachers and administrators lack respect for low-income families.

Chin is the director of Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE), an organization of African American and Latino parents in South Los Angeles. CADRE backs up Chin's controversial claim with evidence from interviews it conducted with more than 100 South Los Angeles parents. A 2004 report based on these interviews, We interrupt this crisis-with our side of the story: Relationships Between South Los Angeles Parents and Schools, concludes, "Latino and African American parents feel that schools have biases based on race, class, immigration status, and language that stand in the way of quality relationships between parents and schools."

Pushed away

For example:

• 62 percent of African American parents surveyed said their opinions were "sometimes" or "almost never" considered in important decisions about their child.
• 71 percent of Latino parents said their opinions are "sometimes" or "rarely" considered when their children are facing a challenge.

Naomi Haywood, one of the group of six parents who developed the survey, says she got involved because she felt her children's schools didn't respond to her concerns-for example, about her son's vision problems. "The only thing that can be done," she concludes, "is for parents to know their rights."

Adrian Angulo, another member of the group, adds that schools often wait until it's too late before notifying parents of problems. After his son was suspended 30 times in one school year, says Angulo, "he lost the desire to go to school."

"It was the children who suffered because parents weren't included," adds CADRE staffer Tania Garcia.

Parent-led

The CADRE survey project was led by parents, with help from Justice Matters Institute, an educational policy and research organization based in San Francisco.

CADRE, launched in 2001 by Chin, an experienced community organizer, and Rosalinda Hill, a South Los Angeles parent, recruited parents by:

• Knocking on doors with a list of questions "just to get people talking [and start] critically thinking about their position as parents," says Chin
• Hosting events including open houses and workshops, or "Parent Advocacy Clinics"
• Canvassing at schools, WIC offices, and supermarkets.

Next steps

So far CADRE claims one small result from the survey and report. When a tense confrontation developed between parents and administrators in a local school, CADRE, along with the Coalition for Educational Justice, met with Local District 7 Superintendent Sylvia Rousseau. She agreed to issue a memo reminding administrators and teachers of the importance of including parents in decision-making.

In the future, CADRE parents plan to use the report to support their efforts to win "cultural inclusion, engagement, and accountability," the goals that came out of the surveys. The group has drawn up a set of standards it wants schools to follow. Parents will discuss them in meetings with staff at individual schools.

"When you go to school by yourself you don't accomplish very much," says Angulo. But with CADRE, "I feel I can contribute some of my time, energy, and resources to do something for the next generation so they get a better quality education."

Resources:

• Justice Matters