Why Does it Seem Like It’s the Same Few Parents Fighting for Philly’s Schools?
PHILLYACTIVE™ (NEWS THAT GETS PHILLY ACTIVE) Active parent Felicia Roche, distressed by Philly’s education crisis, urges her peers to get involved in the fight for fairness.
By Felicia Roche
(Video features activist Helen Gym)
6.16.14: Philadelphia – (Education): I had the unfortunate opportunity recently to “vent” to one of my child’s teachers and other staff members. My daughter attends one of the top middle schools in the Philadelphia School District, and after an entire school year of built up frustration and trying my best to politely voice my concerns, I finally did what most would refer to as “telling them off.”
This is something I try to avoid doing because I never want to look like the “angry black woman” to a staff of mostly white teachers. Throughout the year I was consistently challenged by circumstances in which I knew had I not advocated for my child, she would have suffered academic injustices. Other situations involved me speaking up for all the students when they were being mistreated. I struggled with what, when and how I should say something to the staff; should I communicate my concerns through email, phone, or a face-to-face meetings?
Although I never let it silence me, I’ve always feared being viewed as the nagging, crazy or over involved parent. We’ve all seen them: the parent that comes up to the school yelling, cursing and ready to fight. These parents come to the school often infuriated and ready for war. Many think the parent’s complaints are ridiculous.
In most cases it’s the same parents every time! Are these parents irrational? Surely, they must be, since they are the ONLY ones that always have something to complain about. I wondered this about myself recently: am I being crazy? Am I asking for too much? Why are only a few of us making complaints or questioning staff?
When the same three or four parents are consistently making complaints or questioning things that are happening at their child school, staff and administration tend to look at them as just that: the complainers. But I have found that if those parents express their concerns to their peers more often than not they’re able to agree on the concerns they have about their kid’s education. I myself have had parents come to me and say they feel the same way I do about Why Does it Seem Like It’s the Same Few Parents Fighting for Philly’s Schools? | Philly in Focus:
