The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is the school district that was in dire shape heading into the 2010’s. They graduated only barely half of students and according to Cities in Crisis, a report on the state of educational conditions in the largest cities, Cleveland schools possessed the second lowest in graduation rate in the country in 2009. (Swanson, 2009) Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Governor John Kasich decided to finally tackle this issue, when House Bill 525, better known as the Cleveland Plan was signed into law on July 2nd, 2012. (Garver, 2012).
The major initiatives put forth in the Cleveland Plan included: increasing funding for the growing number of charter schools in the area, eliminating teacher tenure and making staff decisions/offering teacher pay on a performance only scale, and giving schools the ability to lengthen the school year if necessary. Measures such as these have been heavily scrutinized by respected educational philosophers such as Jonathon Kozol, John Hattie and Diane Ravitch, who have mostly come to the conclusion
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Hattie found a strong effect size between parental involvement and a child’s educational achievement. (Hattie, 68) One of the major documented issues of some of the poorer districts was that parents for the most part did not play an active role in their children’s education, and those who did normally pulled their kids from the district to attend charter schools. Requiring parents to meet with a child’s teachers allows them to take that active role, and at the same time show that the district is taking responsibility for educating every student. There have been visible increases in parent involvement after the mandate with one Cleveland principle saying a recent parent night at Collinwood High school had three times the typical attendance of prior years. (Thompson,
After several decades of economic downturn, Cleveland’s public education system was receiving national attention in all of the wrong ways, specifically for poor performance. Funding cuts had resulted in the cutback on all-day kindergarten, and only a meager 12 percent of all 9th graders were passing state required test ...
Detroit is a story of a once flourishing city that has been on a long downslide for decades. There are miles of unoccupied homes and buildings, and crimes and unemployment are at an all-time high. Many aspects of the city are breaking down, including the school system. The Detroit Public School System has lost over eighty thousand students due to high enrollment in charter schools, the large economic decline, and the departure of residents. For many years no one has taken responsibility for the public school system. However, for Detroit to rise again, it is necessary for someone to take responsibility, make a plan, and make sure that children are safe, well cared for, and are receiving a high quality education when going to school each day. In 2016, schools are low-performing with poor test scores, are falling apart, and teachers and parents have decided to take a stand.
One of the most hotly debated issues in the United States today is the controversial topic of education reform. Since public schools are funded almost entirely by local property taxes and money at the state level, many parents feel that they deserve a greater say in what their children learn in school. However, sometimes the opinions of parents contradict the policies at the federal level, thus causing conflict. Dissatisfaction with the public school system in their districts has led many Americas to seek other options for their children’s educations. In 1992, the first charter school opened in Minnesota, giving parents the option to send their kids to a free public school of their choice (“Charter Schools”).
Ravitch, Diane. “Charter Schools Are a Colossal Mistake. Here’s Why.” AlterNet. 2 Oct 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
In February 2010 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) reported their shockingly large budget deficit which will affect the 2010 / 2011 school year. The decreased state funding, increased salary and benefit costs, and the increase of operational costs for Chicago Public schools leaves a deficit of $700 - $900 millions dollars. This deficit of funds will have drastic affects on teachers including teacher and staff layoffs, school closings, and loss of teacher benefits. More importantly the effects of budgetary issues hits hard on our students’ increase the inequities of especially poor urban schools. These children have nothing to do with poor management of the funds for their basic right of an equal and highly performing education. There are an increased number of dilapidated school buildings, an increased number of charter schools, and a loss of afterschool programs such as music and sport activities, minimal school supplies, no transportat...
"The New Mayor and Teachers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
The American public school system faces an education crisis. According to Benjamin Barber, American children barely surpass the lowest standards set for education, especially in literacy, throughout the county’s history. Barber supports the existence of this crisis in his essay “America Skips School”, but argues against a solution to remedy the numerous problems facing the system. Although he acknowledges no solution, Barber suggests a smarter flow of financial resources will address many of the issues, however, he fails to acknowledge the distribution of this money. Barber’s suggestion for smarter financial resources for schools can be effectively implemented through a structured committee focused solely on the distribution of money.
Since President Clinton signed into law, H. R. 2616, the “Charter School Expansion Act of 1998” charter schools have been providing an alternative for parents of public school students (Lin, Q., 2001, p.2). To date, charter schools enroll over 500,000 students (Fusarelli, 2002, p. 1). Charter schools have been favorable because it is believed that they can provide for a way to enhance student achievement by serving students who have been under-served by the public schools (Fusarelli, 2002). There is a belief that by creating a competitive educational system, public schools will undergo significant reforms in response to the threat (Franklin, 2002). Because parents of charter school students have made the choice for their children to attend a charter school, it is believed that parents will become more “involved” in their child’s education (Hammer, 2003). Charter schools in many states are “exempt from many state mandates” (Fusarelli, 2002, p. 2). As a result of these exemptions, charter schools also have more flexibility for the administrators when hiring teachers and running a school. They are able to provide higher salaries for teachers working in hard to fill teaching positions (Finn, Kanstoroom, 2002).
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
Jeynes, W. H. (2005). A Meta-Analysis of the Relation of Parental Involvement in Urban Elementary Student Academic Achievement. Urban Education, 40; 237.
Parent involvement is a major topic of concern among policy makers, educators, and researchers (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, & Maritato, 1997; Rouse & Barrow, 2006; Young, Austin, & Growe, 2013) for more than 20 years. School districts, educational leaders, and researchers all agree with the premise that strong school-family partnerships improve children’s learning and outcomes. Parents and schools, separately or together, represent noteworthy influences on the essential sources of support for children’s learning and development. Children develop within multiple contexts, and development and learning are optimal when effective networks and permanencies among these systems are created. Semke and Sheridan (2012) affirm methods
Parental involvement promotes the social growth of a child. Children whose parents are involved in their education have many advantages. They have better grades, test scores, long-term academic achievement, attitudes and behavior than those with disinterested mothers and fathers (Gestwicki, 2001). Parents becoming involved in their child's schooling creates extra sources of social constraint to influence the child's behavior (McNeal, 2001). For example, parents talking to their children and becoming involved in the school conveys a message to the child of education being important. Parents should be talking with your children's teacher and letting her know about your family. The more she knows about your child, the better she will be able to connect with your child.
When it comes to parental involvement, most people agree with the “why”; it’s the “how” that poses the challenge. The vast majority of parents want to be involved, but face significant barriers in doing so. The vast majority of schools welcome parent involvement, but with short parent meetings (for which both sides struggle to find time), it’s hard to know exactly what to do.
To conclude, my research shows a clear link between parental involvement and children performing better in school. Children who's parents are involved in their education are showing better performance and are achieving higher grades. They also show better behaviour, more enthusiasm, ambition and higher levels of engagement. compared with children who's parent are not involved in their education. My research also shows that parental involvement has great benefits for both children and parents in many ways, so much so that the most effective schools are those who encouraged parents to be involved.
14.5% of Public School Principals agreed that lack of parent involvement was a serious issue. The only other issue public school principals found more prevalent than lack of parent involvement was poverty. 14.9% said that poverty was a serious issue in their school. I have a theory that most of the parents struggling to involve themselves in education of their children are struggling with poverty. There is some evidence to back this up. Childtrends found that students above the poverty line consistently had more involved parents than of student living at or below the poverty line. 45% of children above the poverty line had a parent volunteer at the school while only 27% of those below the poverty line could say the