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Over the years, the Chamber and business people have been strong supporters of
our efforts to create quality schools for all children in this state. You have
served as ambassadors for our message, and many of you have personally worked
with your local schools and on our statewide education initiatives. Again, I
thank you.
The starting point for my brief remarks today is a recent comment from U.S.
Secretary of Education Rod Paige. His comment, which I will paraphrase, is
this: How a community goes about educating its children says everything about
that community.
Notice what the comment doesn’t speak to. It doesn’t speak to new curricula, or
top-quality teachers, or new classroom computers, or new educational theories.
No, it speaks to the wellspring that makes those things possible. That
wellspring is the COMMUNITY.
The strength and quality of our schools stands in direct proportion to the
strength and quality of community involvement. And, of course, community
involvement really means family involvement, parental involvement and business
involvement.
In the early 1990s, Alaska embarked on a statewide effort to improve the quality
of education for all children. Over the past 10 years, this effort - which is
now called the Quality Schools Initiative - has had bipartisan support from our
governors and legislators. It has also enjoyed the support of Chambers and
business groups throughout the state.
While the headlines about the Quality Schools Initiative often dwell on aspects
other than community support - aspects such as funding, new standards and test
scores - community support is central to the initiative. The five key parts of
the Quality Schools Initiative are:
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High student performance
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Every child ready to learn
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Safe, orderly and caring schools
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Quality teachers and administrators
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Strong family, business and community support
Each of these elements requires the strong support of communities and families.
As important as schools are, they are not the only institutions that affect
children’s learning.
Children acquire many of the foundational skills, attitudes, and values within
their families. When schools work together with families to support learning,
children tend to succeed - not only in school, but throughout life.
In fact, the most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not
income or social status, but the extent to which a student’s family becomes
involved in their children’s education at school and in the community. Students
succeed when families do two things: 1) Create home environments that encourage
learning; and 2) Set high expectations for their children’s achievement
(Henderson & Berla, 1994).
Now, what can you do as business and community leaders to increase involvement
in our local schools? Here are five ways (many of you are doing all or some of
these and often times much more):
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Business can encourage their employees to serve as adult mentors to children
who need additional assistance and positive role models.
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Business owners and their employees can serve as leaders in local schools.
Opportunities for leadership extend from the school board to the PTAs, to
school improvement committees and to extracurricular groups such as Boy Scouts,
Girl Scouts and Junior Achievement.
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Businesses can provide their employees with time to visit their children’s
schools. Many businesses already allow their employees to use a “personal day”
as an opportunity to attend parent teacher conferences, mentor in schools and
visit their children’s classroom.
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You can help make schools the centers of their communities. For too long we
have viewed schools as institutions open only from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the
children who attend class there. That has been changing with some of our
schools. And has to change more.
Our schools should be centers of learning that are open well into the evening.
In those evening hours expectant moms and dads can meet for parenting classes,
ecent immigrants can receive English-language tutoring, heritage languages can
be taught to our indigenous children, and families can use the library and
computer labs. The possibilities are not only endless, they are exciting.
Right here in Anchorage at East High School, Wells Fargo Bank, working in
cooperation with Principal Michael Graham and teacher Trudy Keller, has helped
create a student-run bank. The bank is four years old now. Guess who banks
there? Students, teachers and other staff members of the school. Guess who
profits? Student and their parents, teachers, school staff, and the bank, which
gains young, well-trained employees from the venture.
About 20 of the 80 students who have staffed the school bank have been employed
by the bank after graduation. Now that is what I call a great example of school
and community and business involvement.
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Finally, you can help me spread the word. Be an ambassador for parental
involvement. Tell parents this:
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Children whose parents involve themselves in the schools are far more likely to
get good grades, stay out of trouble and meet high expectations.
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Children who see their parents creating relationships with classroom teachers
are more likely to be good students and good citizens.
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Tell parents there are many ways to involve themselves in the schools. They can
plan events, visit their children’s classroom or serve as a teacher’s assistant
one morning each month.
As you relay these messages to parents you will without a doubt hear the
following statement: “We don’t have time.” Yes, it’s true that the hectic pace
of today’s two-income families can make it very, very difficult for parents to
involve themselves in the schools. But, it can take less time than you think.
One parent recently said me: “Shirley, I just don’t have the time to involve
myself in the schools in the way you describe. I drop my daughter off at
school, race to work and then pick her up in the afternoon.”
To that, I asked the parent the following: “Just one day a week or even one day
a month, could you leave for school five minutes early, walk your little girl
into the classroom and talk with her teacher? Could you start there? Could you
do that? The five minutes you spend speaking with the teacher will make a world
of difference.”
You can also let parents know they have a responsibility for their children’s
behavior. President Bush recently told a group of parents that they (and I
quote) “.....have a responsibility to make sure your child comes to school with
the understanding that they’re going to be polite when they get in the
classroom, with the understanding that they’ll treat their teacher with
respect, with the understanding there are certain manners that are important.”
The president also advised parents to send their children to school with basic
skills. And he offered one more important tip. He said, “It would be helpful if
you insisted that your child read more than they watch TV.” Please relay that
message to parents as well.
As Secretary Paige said, how a community educates its children says everything
about that community. By working together, our families, our schools, our
communities and groups such as this Chamber can write new chapters in Alaska’s
education history. We all must be committed to making sure that all students
can reach high standards and that no student is poorly served due to his or her
race, gender, home language or economic status. In my mind’s eye, the first
chapter heading must read, “Community Involvement is the Key to Creating a
Quality Education for All.”
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