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Friday, October 26, 2012

Engaging Parents In School… » California PTA Sets Back Parent Engagement Efforts In State

Engaging Parents In School… » California PTA Sets Back Parent Engagement Efforts In State:


California PTA Sets Back Parent Engagement Efforts In State

California PTA

Each day, as a teacher and as a strong proponent of parent engagement in word and deed,  I find myself more amazed by the actions being taken by the California PTA this election season. I don’t think I’m overstating it to suggest that their efforts this year will be used as a case study in political organizing and in political science classes for years to come — in how not to become politically engaged. If you had to make a list of most of the major mistakes a community-based group could make in a political campaign, the California PTA has managed to make a huge percentage of them.
And, by doing so, they have set-back parent engagement efforts in our state dramatically.
I’ve written quite a few posts already about their entanglement with billionaire Molly Munger and their pushing her doomed-to-fail ballot initiative instead of joining forces with Governor Brown and every major education group in the state to support an education initiative much more likely to succeed.
A new poll out this week shows that the Brown initiative still has a chance to pass, while support for the



“Tapping Community Partnerships to Change Education”

Tapping Community Partnerships to Change Education is a post over at Education Week by Michele Molnar.
It reports on an impressive foundation-supported effort to encourage school districts to develop community partnerships. Some of them sound interesting.