www.healthy-kids.info

What All Parents Should Know

about Special Education Parent Advisory Councils, Mass PTA 

and the benefits of parent involvement in all areas of education.

A talk by Ellie Goldberg, Massachusetts PTA Vice President for Legislation and MassPTA Environmental Health Consultant at the Massachusetts PTA Convention November 18, 2005.  (The scheduled speaker MassPAC Director, Suzanne Peyton, could not be here.)

Introduction:  Welcome to all child advocates. 

I am sorry you will not be meeting Suzanne Peyton today.  She is an incredible advocate for children and a strong and inspiring voice for parent involvement. She sent me her Powerpoint slides. I will try to do justice to her information.

Like Suzanne, I believe that there is a great overlap between PTA's goals and principles of parent involvement and the regulations and procedures for parent involvement in the special education process.

However, parents and teachers don't often see or understand their shared goals, especially in the shadow of the No Child Left Behind Act. When we read test results for 'sub-groups' and news reports that often blame children in special education for dragging down a school's scores or draining school resources, the rhetoric often divides rather than unifies parents. 

I hope my remarks today, focusing on parent involvement in both PACs and PTA, will help turn that around so we can all focus on the job of school improvement together.

We are all here in Sturbridge today because we believe in the benefits of parent involvement. 

My own mother was the model for my involvement as a working parent of two now grown-up daughters.  My working mother was the leader for my Brownie and Girl Scout troops. 

I know most of us today are busy if not overwhelmed with work and family.

But we are here today, as involved parents, because PTA is the oldest child advocacy organization in the country. It is a way to show our children that we care about them and all children, and the world they are growing up in.

Here is a story that illustrates my personal philosophy. It is a story that shows us the difference between Heaven and Hell.

Imagine a room where people are sitting around tables at a huge banquet.  The tables are overflowing with the most delicious foods you can imagine. Everyone is famished, desperate and starving because they have no elbows. They cannot feed themselves. They are thin and miserable. Their suffering is terrible. 

Now imagine a room where groups of people are sitting around tables at a huge banquet. The tables are overflowing with the most delicious foods you can imagine.  In fact, the scene is exactly the same. The people have no elbows. But in this room, everyone is happy and well-nourished.  What is the difference?  Here the people have learned to feed each other.

My goal today is to reframe some of the concepts that we use to talk about schools and the educational agenda in our communities.

I know that No Child Left Behind has caused a lot confusion and problems.  I want to focus on some of the things about the NCLB law that are good for us.

For example, we can now get information about our schools that we could never get before or were too intimidated to ask about.  For example, now we can find out about teacher credentials, one of the most important factors for student success.

I recall a presentation a few years ago by former PTA board member and legislative chair, Ruth Provost. She showed startling statistics about the percentage of teachers in classrooms who were not qualified in the subjects they were assigned to teach.  NCLB sets goals for highly qualified teachers and also establishes that parents have a right to know the qualifications of their child's teachers.

From my experience as an educational advocate, I know that unqualified teachers or paraprofessionals is a common problem in special education staffing. 

So NCLB validates that knowing a teacher's credentials and having a highly qualified teacher pool are universally valued among parents and taxpayers. 

And as involved parents with information on school staffing, we can become active partners with our school and community officials in ways that were not possible before. 

I know that nothing wastes scarce resources like paying people who are not doing a good job. By working together to improve schools, to work for better-qualified teachers, and the funding that supports them, we all win.

Let me stop now and ask how many people here belong to their district PAC? [Several people raise their hands.] If you are not a PAC member, how many know the PAC members or leaders in your community?   [A few people raise their hands.]  

I hope the point about supporting schools to prioritize highly qualified teaching professionals gives you an idea of the kind of shared concerns, interests and insights that all parents share.  

I urge you to begin those community conversations here, to make those valuable connections, and also to starting working with each other in your schools when you go home. 

Another way to learn about the concerns and struggles of parents of special education students is to join SPEDWatch.org and read SpEdWatch News, by another long time child advocate for students with disabilities, Ellen Chambers. [Distributed newsletter.]

The next step is to turn your insights into participation and parent involvement. Take a minute now and think about one, two or even three things you would like to change and improve in your school. 

I guarantee that you are not alone. Both your school PTA and PAC are places to turn those ideas into items in those school improvement plans.

What is a PAC? 

A Special Education Parent Advisory Council is a district wide public entity mandated by law.  It is open to all parents as well as community members. Its role is to advise the school committee on matters that pertain to the education, health and safety of children. 

It meets regularly with school officials to plan, develop and evaluate what is working or not working for children, and to participate in efforts to bring the school into compliance with the law, and to improve school decision-making.

The school system supports the PAC with space to meet, mailings, staff and other resources. The district, in cooperation with the PAC, provides at least one workshop a year about state and federal special education laws. They distribute the Parent's Rights brochure and other good resources for parents.

The PAC, like the PTA, has officers and bylaws governing its operating procedures. The PAC, like the PTA, is a communication channel between school administrators and parents.  It is the eyes and ears of the administration and provides feedback from the constituents, the parents and students, as a collective voice focused on improving the school. 

In many schools the PAC enhances disability awareness and tolerance for all differences.  Some PACs create resource libraries for their communities.  And, PACs often link up with neighboring groups, sharing training opportunities, newsletters and other resources.

We all know that the quality of a school's special education program impacts all children in all classrooms. It impacts school budgets and school programming.  By reaching out to each other, to other parents, we learn from and can help each other help our schools to make better decisions.  

Next, a word about the importance of connectedness. 

Last year, thanks to the MassPTA, I attended a meeting of the American School Health Association. There I heard about the importance of 'connectedness' in a child's school achievement. I know that nothing estranges a child or alienates a family more than feeling unsuccessful and alone with problems at school.

So again, I urge you to consider the importance of involvement, of building relationships and making connections, as a way to strengthen schools and communities on behalf of children.

Those connections inform us, help us see where needs are unmet, and how to target our resources.

Like starting a PTA unit, to start a PAC, all you need is a few interested parents and a plan.  One of my objectives today is to help you think of yourself as a resource to each other and to your school.  Too often we think of our concerns as 'complaints' and we hesitate to speak up about something we feel is negative or to make waves. 

Both PTA and your school PAC helps you to understand that your concerns and observations are legitimate and widely shared interests.  Both organizations empower you with information and make you a confident and powerful voice.

For example, many PACs survey their members.  They ask, What do we need to know? What do parents want done?  Being a voice in the process takes the burden off the individual and gives them the feeling of belonging to an organization designed to improve the way things are working.

This information is valuable input for budget writers and policy makers.  This is also good information for your town, district and national representatives and their staff. These are the people whose job is to serve you. They don't know your needs unless you inform them.

The League of Women Voters is another national organization with statewide units. They are also committed to the principles of good government and have advocates who have a special interest in education and policy. They can also be community allies and partners. See the League of Women Voters website, http://www.lwvma.org, and you'll find goals and position statements that also overlap many of our policies and positions.

I've recently become involved in the Natural Resource Committee for the Massachusetts League of Women Voters because its good government and environmental health agenda is so aligned with all the legislative advocacy I am involved in for PTA. 

You too can partner with your local League members and grassroots coordinators.  Do you need support contacting your legislators or meeting with them when they are in their district offices?  Your league member can be a resource to you.

Again, no one of us can do this alone. Working together, we can find the courage, the confidence, and the support we need to make a difference.

On this flyer, I encourage you to send me your name and contact information so I can alert you to resources and opportunities on PTA's legislative and advocacy agenda.  [Pass out flyer.}

There are many other policy groups lobbying to improve our communities. I encourage you to act as a liaison for PTA.  Ask Barbara Bailey or me for the name of some of these groups.  For example, if you are interested in making it safer for children to walk to school, you may be interested in finding out more about Safe Routes to Schools. 

Bring its resources to your community. Help  PTA to spread its influence throughout the state.

So, in conclusion, I remind you, we can all maximize our potential and the potential of all our children. We need to remember to nurture each other, using the resources of our local Special Education PACs, our PTA and other groups dedicated, like we are, to parent involvement and civic participation.  Our shared objective is to make things better for our families, our schools and our communities.

[I asked for some illustrations of how PACs are working in schools. Several people gave examples--positive and not positive.]

Thanks for your examples.  I urge you not to feel overwhelmed by how big the job of advocacy is or by how long it takes to see change. 

Remember the story about the little boy walking with his father on the beach, picking up stranded starfish, one after the other, and tossing them back into the water. The father said to the boy, "Why do you bother? There are millions of starfish. You'll never save them all."  And the boy looked thoughtfully at the starfish he was holding and then looked up at his father and said, "It matters to this one."

We all know that it is true and that is why we are here today.  I look forward to working with you.

************

Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed., Massachusetts PTA Vice President for Legislation and MassPTA Environmental Health Consultant, presented in Suzanne Peyton's absence.  Ellie is the founder of Healthy Kids: the Key to Basics, a consulting service dedicated to promoting a better understanding of the health and educational needs of students with asthma and other chronic health conditions.  www.healthy-kids.info

Healthy Kids resources and programs are designed to help educators, health professionals, community officials, organizations, policy makers and parents work together to improve policies and practices so that schools are safe for children's healthy development.

Ellie represents the Massachusetts PTA as a member of MassPartners, a collaboration of the major administrator, teacher, and parent educational associations in Massachusetts and on the governing council, legislative and administrative committees of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a statewide coalition of over 140 public health, education, labor, environmental and community groups working for environmental health and safety.  

The scheduled speaker was Susanne Peyton, the founder and president of MASSPAC, the Massachusetts Association of Special Education Parent Advisory Councils. www.masspac.org