President's Perspective
Parents and teachers: The beginning of a beautiful friendship
Mar 30, 2006 11:09 AM
I asked Tim Johnson, the chairman of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council, to be my guest columnist this issue.
— Randi
On Tuesday March 14, alarm clocks in households across New York City went off extra early. It was still dark outside. No, the clocks weren’t malfunctioning. These alarms were set early even for folks who are used to getting up early to get to school on time to teach and learn. The reason? Parents and teachers had a special bus to catch that morning and an important mission to accomplish. Three thousand strong, they boarded 61 buses to travel to Albany to lobby in an historic coalition united around a common agenda.
Let me tell you what was behind this unprecedented event. In February, the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council voted to opt out of the Department of Education’s annual Lobby Day. Although much has been made of this decision in the press, our reasons for doing so were very simple. The parents of New York City public school children could not find sufficient common ground with the DOE’s legislative agenda to support it.
We tried and failed to assert our independence and participate in the DOE’s Lobby Day. The inescapable fact is that, when it comes to shaping policy for our schools, the Klein administration has effectively removed the parents’ seats at the table. When we presented our position papers and agenda to the UFT, we found the common ground — on the issues — that we sought.
When we broke with tradition and established an independent Parents’ Lobby Day, we needed friends to help us, friends who supported our issues, friends who believed what we believed. When Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said, “No,” Randi Weingarten said, “Yes.” When Joel Klein said, “You can’t do that!” Randi said, “We will do it. We’ll do it because it’s the right thing to do for our children and for our city.” Teachers know that parent involvement is the key to better schools. Active parent involvement improves every school and every classroom and makes our best schools better and our strongest teachers stronger.
When the editorial boards of three newspapers attacked CPAC on three consecutive days immediately following Lobby Day, I knew that our coalition had gotten the attention of those who would seek to divide and defeat us. But the folks at Tweed Courthouse don’t work for the editorial boards. They work for the people. And sometimes I think they forget that. Without question, the most meaningful relationships that parents have during their children’s education are parent-teacher partnerships. Anything that fosters a strengthened partnership between parents and teachers is good for our kids and good for our school system. Frankly, it’s the power of the parent-teacher coalition that has frightened Tweed. When parents and teachers join together and find common ground, we are unstoppable.
Our voices were strong in Albany and they were heard and listened to. Attention was paid. Both Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno addressed our rally in the Armory in Albany and met with a diverse coalition of parent leaders afterward. Christine Quinn, our City Council speaker, and a contingent of members of the City Council also lent their voices in support. But, we also heard moving speeches from parents and students in the Armory and on the steps of the Capitol — something that doesn’t happen on the DOE’s Lobby Day. Our agenda wasn’t the Tweed agenda; it was the parent-teacher agenda — the united agenda of the stakeholders in our school system.
Parents and teachers demanded that Albany fully fund New York City schools in accordance with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision — both operating aid and capital aid (for construction and renovation) — as opposed to Tweed’s sole focus on capital aid. We demanded smaller class sizes in all grades so that our kids can get the individual, focused attention they need to achieve. Parents and teachers demanded universal pre-kindergarten to ensure that our kids get the best possible educational start in their early years. We demanded that the use of high-stakes testing be de-emphasized. Accountability is critical, but standardized tests should not be the sole criterion to determine whether a student should be promoted or retained, admitted to or graduated from public school. We demanded meaningful parent empowerment and a seat at every table. Parents and teachers demanded full accountability and transparency in how and where our money is spent — both CFE money and the money currently being spent — in our schools, our districts, and citywide.
Securing equitable funding for New York City’s public schools is the one issue on which we mostly agree with the administration. But parents and teachers are rightly concerned that their voices will be ignored when it comes time to apportion the money among our schools and districts. We have been excluded too often and our concerns have for too long fallen on deaf ears. Parents are frustrated and looking for signs from this administration that the mayor’s second term will mark a shift toward a more conciliatory and cooperative approach to parents and parent organizations. Despite Mayor Bloomberg’s resounding election victory, parents across New York City overwhelmingly feel that their voices are not being heard. Parents and parent organizations have been disempowered and marginalized under the Klein administration. Parents seek precisely the same respect that teachers find lacking from Tweed.
In Albany, I said, “If the mayor and chancellor won’t address the concerns of parents and teachers, the movement to end mayoral control of our schools begins here.” And I meant it. The mayor must understand that parents and teachers will stand together in New York City just like we did in Albany. We’ll stand arm in arm, with a solid commitment to our beliefs, with a firm resolve to see it through — whatever it takes — until we win. We won’t be turned around. We won’t be distracted. We’ll stand together and stay together and fight together until we have the school system that our kids deserve. We demand a school system where teachers want to teach and children want to learn, a school system with healthy parent organizations populated by dedicated parents and parent leaders working hand in hand with teachers to give our kids the best education we can provide: classroom by classroom, school by school, and district by district.
It won’t be easy. Important work never is. But it’s the most meaningful work that any of us will ever do for our kids and our city. And, we’ll do it together. Because we’re stronger together than we are apart. Parents and teachers: the beginning of a beautiful friendship. If you haven’t yet joined us, please do. There’s room for everyone at our table.
