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Gossip or gospel?
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They say, "out of the mouths of babes". Would that old adage of children speaking the truth still hold true today if it were not for the increase numbers in cyber bullying? Before one can delve into that tragic topic one would have to wonder where do children come up with such ideas. There has been a spike in incidents of fighting at schools. The interesting thing to be aware of is that the increase has been among the adults.
For some time now parent volunteers have complained about one another and it has become the farce of most parent association meetings and Community District Education Council meetings as well. It seems that our parent representatives can't get being their own squabbles long enough to get organized and get the job at hand done. Internal conflicts have paralized groups for entire terms and has gone as far as keeping an entire city parent advisory council hostage. One would ask what is it that parents are doing in their schools when they volunteer? Shouldn't there be a class for that?
In the 90s the NYS Legislature put into law the creation of School Leadership Teams (SLTs) but failed to provide the necessary funding and clear cut instruction for these partnership teams. Since then many are frought with problems more appropriate for soap oepras. The work that is expected to come out of these meetings as well as those of the Parent Associations (PA), District Presidents' Councils (PC) and Community District Education Councils (CDEC) ends up being dictated by the mightiest of mouths, regardless of qualifications. In SLTs most of the time it's the Principals who tries to get thrhough what is considered more of a headache to them than a resource. Parents there with a desire to question the validity of any decision tend to be shut down or shut out completely in spite of the fact that these meetings are subject tot he Sunshine Law where ALL parents are allowed to attend and witness the proceedings. Years go by before parents are made to realize that yes, there is a class for this. A class that every parent volunteer should take to become better prepared and equipped when they volunteer in a school organization at any level.
In 2002, under the new order of things, the NYS Legislator gave total - yes, total - control of hte NYC Public School System over to the Mayor and the Chancellor of his choice. They also made the law so vague that the Mayor and Chancellor had total say over who were to train parent volunteers on how to be the most effective and efficient. Sine then, once the administration unilaterally decided to create their own "independent" training academy comprised of administration people and third party facilitators, handing over the contract to themselves while only giving legitimate institutions a week to prepare for the requests for proposals (RFPs), parent volunteering os but a shadow of what it used to be.
Squabbling parents isn't totally the fault of the volunteers, after all, it is their passion to do what they consider right that is propelling most of the conflicts b ut anyone in business should know that you train your people to do a job before you give it to them, right? Working in any corporation has shown that their are retreats, team building exercises, classes in clonflict resolution, negotioations and things as basic and the prpoer porcedures on how to provide reports. There looks to be more squabbles after the Chancellor and this administration took over training parents, hence, more distractiosn that ther is no wonder that productivitiy is as low as the number of parents willing to volunteer. If parental involvement was one of the main criterias for this Administration it would fail miserable as each year has passed by. Quorums aren't met, issues never get discussed and the Administration is beaming that they have been quite successful in getting the job done. The law states that parental involvement is a must so how can the wost numbers in decades be a success?
Ther is discussion among long-time accredited educators that independent parent training is a necessity for the flourishing of whole school communities. When parent volunteers are given the tools, resources and funding then the work gets done, there is a true sense of contribution from a ll parties and therefore that of a real community coming together for a common cause, our children. It is simple to understand yet illogical when you see how our organizations are now at their weakest that the informed and prepared organizations fare better and are more prepared to combat whatever comes their way.
The NYS Legislator has this question looming before them once again in June of 2009. Will they repeat ther errors of the last two decades, shortchange our school communities by giving our schools and the 21 Billion Dollar budget away to the highest bidder or will they rise to the occasion and create "checks and balances" that allows legitimate accredited institutions the opportunity to train volunteers independently so that there can be a true partnership in the educational endeavors of the children of NYC? Whether you are for Mayoral Control or against it would benefit to attend and state your opinion.
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