Parents Organizations to Join.

Updated on June 01, 2009
M.M. asks from Chicago, IL
14 answers

My God, look at all of us parents admitting that our elementary and high schools schools are not challenging, low quality and have "dummebed down curricculums"! That is exactly what they are comparing to schools in other countries!
Do you know that 80% of leading american scientists today are not american born? Our children are robbed from the beginning of the opportunities to become smart, great and successful by the horrible elementary education system that exists in the US. We as parents struggle to close that gap at home. How long can we all stand by and watch our tax dollars waisted when the education of the future generation is always ends up on the bottom of the goverment list to do?
Thus the question: Anyone knows the organizations/groups that we as parents can get involved in that lobby/support increased funding/quality of education? Thank you for reading, I hope that responces will help me and others to get involved.

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So What Happened?

First, I would like to say that I never meant for my coment to be a stone into a teachers' garden. I respect all teachers I think most of you are dedicated individuals that have to practice inside the constrains that system and/or abilities of your students impose on you. From the responces I gathered that there are few organizations for parents to join if we wanted to improuve our school system but there are widespread unhappiness with the schools. There were few websites named so I will check them out. Thanks to all who took their time to respond.
I agree, curriculums are dumbed down because most of the students' abilities have lots to be desired. That comes from homes. Teachers cannot do much if parents do not care. I would love to see the schools though, where kids can be accepted based on their abilities and test scores that realy do what they promise and offer challenging curriculums and if kids do not pull the weight let them go and enroll somebody else. Not everybody is destined or has the ability to go to college. In some countries only the best of the best go on to college. Here, everyone seems so entitled. What is wrong with only top 5% passing the test, that would only mean that the test is hard and these kids did the best. What kind of standard requires 60-70% passing? Very low one, I think.
When I was talking about more money for schools, I actualy want that money to go toward teachers' better pay, longer school days, longer school year, better books...but it is just dreaming . We pay a lot in taxes, did you know? If money was spent on the programs that focus on the future we will all be better off.
Maybe if our top officials sent their kids to public schools instead of private they would have been more inclined to fix the system instead of just talking about it.

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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

I'm on a bunch of different action alert email systems. There are tons of agencies out there. Here are links to two big ones.

http://www.naeyc.org/policy/
http://www.cep-dc.org/

There are also other organizations that you might find interesting: Women's Employed ( a Chicago group) keeps informed on training and education issues, though they usually are concerned with adult education and workforce development issues.

Just do a google search. You might even find a group that speaks more directly to you.

One of my favorite organizations is http://www.commercialexploitation.org/

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S.A.

answers from Chicago on

I agree with your conclusion that the educational system in this country is not doing it's job. From the beginning until 4th grade American children compete very well. But starting in 4th grade they start to decline and by the time they reach high school they lag so far behind as to rank the US toward the bottom of the industrialized nations.

I disagree though that throwing more money at the system is going to work. Homeschool parents typically produce highly educated children with little money. Why is that?

1.) One-on-one attention (in this case more money might help because you can hire more teachers so the classroom sizes are smaller.

2.) Better behaved children. From my own experience I find homeschooled children are much better behaved. They follow instructions, they pay attention to instruction, they tend to be more motivated and engaged.

3.) Parents can design curriculum around their child's needs and interests. That just isn't possible in classrooms with 20 or more kids. Money might help here too, but the size of schools would explode.

I worked with middle school children for over ten years in varying capacities and I can tell you from my experience and that of several family members that are also in education throughout the country that the biggest problem schools face when trying to educate children is discipline.

You can't teach children that won't behave. They talk during instruction. They won't complete homework assignments. They don't study for tests. They won't follow instructions because they know there is nothing a teacher can do.

I think education in primary grades still competes with the world because the younger child is still slightly afraid of the authority figures in their lives. They aren't quite sure if they want to disobey. Thus the teacher can do more with the kids and they actually learn more.

By the time the kids reach 8th grade, they have learned they have the upper hand. They don't need to obey the teacher. They don't need to listen to instruction. They don't have to study.

This has created a horrible trend in education to dumb down curriculum so most children pass. I was pressured and criticized if I had a class in which more than just a few children were failing. It didn't matter if I had five other classes excelling under the same type of instruction. It was somehow my fault that particular class did poorly.

And I had classes that did poorly for a variety of reasons. Maybe I had more than just one or two trouble makers that took up much of my time trying to discipline them and keep control of the classroom (can't just put them in the hallway these days they get into trouble....can't send them to the office because the principle can't do anything with them either...calling parents is pretty useless...some parents will even complain if you hold their child in detention during recess)

Maybe I had a class full of low achievers. It only takes a handful of apathetic children to change the dynamics of your classroom. Next thing you know the whole group could care less; especially if your apathetic child is the most popular kid in class. I would stay awake nights trying to think of ways to motivate that one child. And I can promise you that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

There are a multitude of issues that has created the poor results we are seeing today. I worked for a very poor school district. My kids didn't have access to computers for years. They worked out of text books that were falling apart. But I still had classes that excelled. If the grouping was just right... If I could spark something in one of the more outgoing kids...Oh, what a joy! Those kids would go above and beyond what I required and parents were amazed. But it wasn't something that happened consistently.

So many children today just don't care. They have more important things on their mind by the sixth, seventh and eigth grade. They have to look just right, have just the right clothes, know just the right music, watch just the right shows on television, be able to attain the highest scores on video games, be the best in a dozen sports and activities, be invited to the best parties, have the most popular boyfriend/girlfriend, be a part of the most popular group, and the list goes on and on. Everything except getting a decent education. Most will do just enough to get by and that's in a classroom in which the curriculum was already dumbed down.

Those that are willing to do whatever is asked of them are cheated because there is no challenge.

My biggest irritation as a teacher was when a parent blamed me for their child's failure. I'm a pretty outgoing person. I've always had a great repoire with kids and to have someone tell me I wasn't interesting enough just burned my hide. I'm didn't spend four years in college and countless hours in re-certification courses learning subject matter and teaching techniques to be an entertainer. If I was any good at entertaining, I would be in Hollywood making millions.

Caring for their children, being sincere in my desire to teach, loving my subject matter, creating a curriculum that was engaging, challenging, and varied just didn't matter. I just wasn't interesting.

All I could say was entertaining was above my pay grade. And if their children honestly believed that everything they did had to be entertaining, they were surely going to fail in many areas throughout their lives. I was already doing everything I could to educate their child and I showed them my curriculum guides, activity lists, grade books, rules, extra-credit materials, and disciplin plans. If after all that they still weren't convinced, then I had to throw up my hands.

Honestly, it got to be so frustrating listening to parents whine for their children. Then having to tolerate rude children that didn't know any better was unbearable. And the sleepless nights killing myself trying to figure out ways to motivate the children was taking it's toll on my health. After I moved to Illinois I decided to take a break. I literally slept for 12 hours a night for the first six months or so. I was exhausted.

Though I love movies about educators that worked miracles because they are so inspiring. I also hate them because they give everyone watching them the wrong idea about what school and teaching should be all about. They rarely show the negatives that exist and if they do, it's always solved by the end of the movie. They don't show you that the vast majority of negatives today aren't getting solved and it's just gettings worse.

You fix the American family, the behavior and work ethic of kids and the educational system will become great once again. American children once led the world. The first thing that changed was the type of child entering school. The second thing that changed was the curriculum to get the vast majority of these low achievers through the system. Then the last thing that changed was unions took over in so many systems throughout the country to tie up more and more of the money in areas not pertaining to kids.

Illinois takes in more money for education than most of the states in this country through taxes. But Illinois ranks toward the bottom for the amount of money actually spent on the kids. I wonder where the difference is going?

I'll get off my soapbox now. Seriously fix the kids first, then get rid of unions and rules that prevent districts from firing poor teachers, then spend funds in a financially responsible way and American schools will be great again.

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C.S.

answers from Chicago on

While some schools aren't reaching standards, you can't blame just the teachers. Too many parents send their kids to school and just expect their kids' education to be complete. No matter what age your child, you are still the most important teacher they will have. Parents need to reinforce skills at home, teach their children to work hard, and value education. No matter how good the school district, if there is no parental support at home, the child will not reach their potential.
I have my kids in Gurnee's Woodland district and I feel confident that because I am reinforcing what they learn and stressing the importance of doing their absolute best, they will receive a great education.

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T.C.

answers from Chicago on

I do not know of any organizations that exist. I definately feel your pain. The school district we live in used to be one of the best around, but times have changed. Not it is all about being fair, and in doing so they teach to the lowest level of the class rather than the highest. The problem is, is that there is too much government involvement. They are the ones saying it has to be fair. And so far their solution of giving the schools more money has not done anything, except allow the schools to waste more money. They used to tier the classes, low-middle-high, but because the government didn't want the low kids with bad self-esteem, they intergrated, and we are stuck with it. You can try to be very invovled, or ask your child's teacher for extra challenging work. We have decided to go private next year. My daughter will only be in 3rd grade, but the school she will be going to starts the college prep thing that early.
Good Luck

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M.D.

answers from Peoria on

I don't know where you live but there are cities with great schools. We live in Canton, Il and I absolutely love our school district. Of course it isn't perfect, but my son has had great teachers and is excelling. We don't rely entirely on the school to challenge him, we do extra work at home. We are a small rural district that spends more than a thousand less per student than the largest school district 45 miles away. My biggest suggestion is become involved in your parent teacher group and go to school board meetings. Become active in the decisions made at your school. Our elementary school has 220 (we have 3 elementary schools) and on average only have about 10 parents show up for parent teacher meetings. Although we do have the strongest parent teacher group with the most activities and a healthy budget. We just need more participants. The countries that outperform us spend nearly half the amount of money on education that we do. I think it is pretty clear that the government has never "fixed" anything! If we really want to make changes it needs to be through action at your local level. I feel that obtaining and retaining the best teachers is the key. Not sure how to do that but if the government is going to increase spending it's goal needs to be educating our best and brightest to be teachers. I remember having some pretty bad teachers in high school. They really didn't care about the students and they had been there forever. Considering how poorly the districts that spend the most per student performs, I think it is pretty obvious that throwing money at the problem doesn't help. Good luck!

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O.W.

answers from Chicago on

Join your school PTA - PTA is not about baking cookies it is one of the oldest child advocacy organizations in the country. When you join PTA your voice is added to a million others to tell our elected officials that we demand quality education for our children. We as parents must make the effort to show our local, state, and national government that our children's education is a priority. So please join your local PTA.

O. W.
onevoice, everychild

A little about me

Mom of two boys, one just complete his sophmore year at college the younger one is graduating high school this year and will be attending college in the fall and I am still involved with PTA - nothing is more important to me than the education of children.

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D.G.

answers from Chicago on

As a teacher, I am really tired of parents placing all of the blame on schools and teachers for what they claim is the "dumbing down" of our schools. More and more I find that parents make excuses for their children and don't hold them to a strict work ethic. Children in our society are a product of many elements. What do you require of your children? How much television do they watch a night? What do they watch? Do you know for sure? Who are they texting? calling? emailing? What are they surfing on the Internet? Who is on their Facebook? Twitter? Blog? Do you sit with them and help them study? Do you ask to see their homework? Do you communicate with their teachers on a regular basis? Do you make excuses for them or challenge them to be more responsible? Do you know their friends, what they do with their free time? Do you expect more out of them than just the average? Do you encourage them to think more about others than themselves? If so, how? Do you talk with them on a regular basis? While schools DO need to take on more responsibility (Yes, I do own some of it) I am tired of parents complaining and being part of the problem instead of part of the solution. How involved are you in your child's school, teachers, school boards, PTA, extra curriculars, etc. Step up to the plate!

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C.F.

answers from Chicago on

Hi -

I was excited to read your email until I found that you wanted to increase the funding to our failing school systems. They are not failing because of lack of money...Personally, I think they're failing (like our students) because of lack of competition. Give us a school credit and the power to choose what school our child attends...that will whip the failing schools into shape OR put them out of business...either way we win.

I appreciate your passion for change and am interested to see what responses you get.

Home schooling is always an option too -

Best -

Courtney

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S.W.

answers from Peoria on

WOW! I feel very lucky to have my children in the school district they are in. They attend West Prairie, and really, its a small, rural school....but I LOVE it. Our grade school and middle school are Illinois Honor Roll Schools. Not bad for a small, rural school with little money.
My first grade daughter reads at a 3rd grade level....my oldre tow are honor roll students. A lot of the learning HAS to begin and continue at home. As another mom suggested, challenge your kids, work with them at home, buy them the little workbooks at and above their grade levels.
We moved here 4 years ago from Iowa, another rural school district But they did nothing for the kids. My middle daughetr struggled through the first 3 years of school, and they would not hold her back. She wasnt ready to move forward, but they refused to hold her back, because it would reflect poorly on the school. How sad is that? I was in touch with teachers, administrators, the whole 9 yards, and nothing good happened there. When we moved, i chose to have her re-do 3rd grade, and she blossemed.
Another key is preschool. My youngest daughter was able to start full day preK in our grade school, and it was the best program i have seen. I credit her reading skills to that program (as well as working at home)
Join the PTA, get your voice heard. Work with your kids, at home. Make learning fun, challenge them all the time. Give them the WANT to succeed in school.

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T.W.

answers from Chicago on

Myra,
WOW, you have received a ton of responses, and I think this is wonderful to get some conversatio going on this subject! My son will be going into fifth grade next year, and he attends the same school district my husband and I did! I liked how some of the parents who responded said their school districts are GREAT!! Its good to hear, and when my husband and I attended our current school district, it was great too! We had three elementary schools, 1 jr high, and one high school! We're now the fifth largest district in Illinois! We have so many grade schools, I cannot count them! Too many middle schools too, and we have 4 high schools! My child has been in the gifted program since he was identified in 3rd grade! To be in the gifted ed program, you need to be in the top 5% in the whole district.....

I too am always looking at new ways to advocate for my child, but I have no avenue to do so! Remember when I said our school was the 5th largest school district in IL? Well, Springfield does a "thing" every year for gifted ed kids, and you know what? this year my son's elementary school was the only school in our district that was represented!! Why? Because parents aren't very involved anymore! They complain and complain and complain, but then don't SHOW UP when it counts!!

Please feel free to e-mail me if you want! ____@____.com

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D.I.

answers from Chicago on

Wow! I have to reply to the previous respondent who claimed that the problem has been too much spending on education...can I live in your world? It is a known fact that suburban schools receive more educational funding, the nicer the suburb the greater the funding. We live in the city of Chicago, I was born and raised on the north side of Chicago, I am a recipient of the CPS education and so are both of my children ages 25 and 17 years. I have ALWAYS made sure that my children (especially my son)were involved in extra-curricular and summer programs. In my era parents were more involved with the teachers and teachers were more involved with the parents. I separate the two because there is a huge communication gap between the pair today. Teachers are not involved with the parents and for the most part teacher are choosing not to work with parents. Teachers just are not responding to parents who want and need that communication. I don't get call backs...EVER. My son has been raised to handle situations with his teachers that are in his power to address but if he feels that it is out of his control he comes to me. This happens maybe once a year since he has started highschool he is going into his senior year this september. For example his Sophmore year I sent an angry letter to a science teacher after leaving several messages for him to call me regardinga a missed exam. Junior year, last week Wednesday I called a math teacher to inform her personally that my son would be absent and at home with the flu and would miss an exam. As a parent I wanted to know if and when he could take the exam because this is the last couple of weeks of school. I have not received a call yet. In a nails salon yesterday during casual conversation with a lady found out that her daughter who is an honor roll student will begin high school this summer, getting a jump start on her high school career. The parent complained that two weeks ago she'd begin leaving messages with the counselor and or school administration to call her regarding the details of the course and an exact start date for the summer program. The parent has not received a call yet. She now has doubts about this school and it is suppose to be pretty reputable for a chicago public school....it also happens to be the same high school that my son attends.

So to echo the original request because I too would like to "know of any organizations that are currently lobbying for increased funding and quality of education?"

A little about me:

I am a single parent of two phenomenal children, work full time and am seeking a degree in business.

J.S.

answers from Chicago on

I agree with Ofelia that you should get involved in your local Home and School Association as a great first step. Also, attend your local school board meetings. Speak up - get your voice heard!

Just a quick search online brought up "The Illinois Association of School Boards."

http://www.iasb.com/jac03/article12.cfm

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J.C.

answers from Chicago on

This is for Myra M
Since you are a SAHM you might think about Home schooling
Check out CVCS (Chicago Virtual Charter School. Go on line at
K12.com follow the links. Proved successful for my family

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P.M.

answers from Chicago on

I just read a great book on this subject, it takes all the research and talks about ways parents can get involved to help change things. It is called Hidden Dangers: Subtle Signs of Failing Schools by Betsy Gunzelman

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