Learning
Leaders
Harnesses the Power of 13,000 Parents
by Digna Sánchez
Of all the changes encompassed in the Children
First agenda for the NYC public schools, the most positive
impact is being generated by the hiring of 1200 Parent
Coordinators. The creation of the paid Parent Coordinator
position in every NYC public school demonstrates the
city's commitment to invest in and partner with parents.
As the country's largest public school volunteer organization,
Learning Leaders, has joined forces with the Parent
Coordinators to recruit, train and support the thousands
of parents that have stepped forward to volunteer.
No other public school volunteer program
has focused on parent involvement with anywhere near
the scale and scope of Learning Leaders. The skills,
which the parent volunteers learn through our training,
are used to help struggling students in school and,
as importantly, their own children at home. The Parent
Coordinators requested our services in 120 additional
schools, bringing the Learning Leaders program to a
total of 970 schools.
Parent
volunteers have an incredibly positive impact on
schools. According to a study of Learning Leaders
done by Arête Corporation, parent volunteers
spend more time helping their children with homework,
speak to their children's teachers more often and are
twice as likely to join PTA's and SLT's. Language barriers,
limited education and/or lack of confidence hinders
so many parents from believing that they can help their
children be successful in school. After becoming volunteers, these parents gain the self-assurance
and support to contribute to their children's educations
and become active in their school communities.
Parents
want the best for their children. By providing them
with skills that enable them to help their children
succeed, we are truly empowering them. As children
see their parents become more engaged in their education,
they become more enthusiastic about school. Education
becomes a family enterprise, not the independent
endeavor of a single teacher. With parents
as active partners, teachers' jobs become more manageable,
because they are no longer alone in what they expect from
their students.
The unprecedented growth of Learning Leaders
affirms that the hiring of Parent Coordinators was
long overdue and shatters the myth that parents from
diverse racial, ethnic and language groups don't care
about their children's education. Learning Leaders
is honored to play an integral part in these changes
that have mobilized parents, and we stand behind our
belief that parental involvement is crucial for changing
NYC public education for the better.
Digna
Sánchez is president of
Learning Leaders, with 13,000 volunteers helping
nearly 200,000 children in 970 NYC public schools.
For more information, call (212) 213-3370 or visit
www.learningleaders.org.