A Parent Student Advocate?

I was at the Board of Education meeting last night.  I listened to an excellent speech by Mr. Todd, the Windsor Teacher of the Year and hope it gets posted here.  Congratulations Mr. Todd on a job well done, and an award well deserved.  We all recognized your passion for education.

I also listened to a young lady Ms. Demitrus, whose comments were from a different vantage point, and worthy of repeating as well.  I have permission to post her comments and will do so in the next day or so.

I have always said the art of communication is so important.  A conversation on an issue in an open manner allows ideas to percolate, and it allows thoughts to form.  All parties leave having been enriched by the process, even if minds are not changed.  It never hurts to understand where people come from, where they are going, and their respective life experiences.  Several conversations last night fomented an idea for me.

Last night at the Board Meeting a discussion of a task force was pushed to a later meeting.  The reality is a task force is a tool used when you have no ideas on how to resolve a problem or how to make them actionable or need to get a wider 'buy-in'.  

I always look to new ideas on how to solve problems and this will become idea #9 in “Some low cost ideas to improve education (updated).”  We must create and empower a parent advocate or parent liaison for our students and their parents.  This is a person that will advocate for the students and parents when a parent feels that the system is failing their child.  For example, a student that is recommended for a challenge class is not placed in such a class, and the parents are getting the runaround as to why.  I have heard that this happens and just once is too often.  

The parent advocate would help parents understand procedures and inform parents of options  They would be the step after initial parental advocacy.  The parent must try to advocate first as step #1, the parent advocate is step #2.

The advocate would not be for those students with IEP’s or other special education needs that are covered under other mandates or programs or laws. 

Yes there could be issues with such an approach, however if we want to close the achievement gap we must find ways to empower an advocate for the children. This could yield immediate results that benefit ALL our students.  Is it the only solution?, it is not, but at least it is something that is immediately actionable at minimal cost, and a first from the First Town.

This is yet another example of a new idea that we can put in place.  Something the majority has not done for 20+ years as the achievement gap has widened.  Their answer: a task force.  My answer: an advocate for parents and students.

November will give you a voice to continue a failed approach or to vote for a new invigorated approach with new people that care for our community.  Republicans are concerned with all our residents and all our children.  We should be striving for academic excellence at all levels.  We need to allow every student to flourish to the maximum of their capabilities; remembering that a mind is truly a terrible thing to waste.