A New Chief for Parent Involvement
July 26th, 2011
Probably no aspect of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education changes has received as much criticism as the Department of Education’s attitude toward parents. While Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein wanted parents to help kids with their homework – and vote for the mayor – they saw real parent input as an inconvenience, possibly threatening their reforms.
Consulting with parents can create “gridlock,” Klein once said. “For every issue in which you think there is parent agreement … there are wide ranges of very different views.”
Bloomberg and Klein even went so far as to try to stop parents from baking cookies.
Upon becoming chancellor last spring, Dennis Walcott vowed to change that, while at the same time praising the department’s efforts during the time Klein was chancellor (and Walcott deputy mayor).
Today the Department of Education announced yet another retooling of theOffice of Family Information and Action. Walcott made the executive director of
