It Takes a Parent (Not a Village)
Education is probably one of the most passionately debated issues in government. In the frequent debates we hear regarding education, there is a recurring platitude, with subtle variations, that is meant to trump all the others: “It’s all about the child,” or, “We’re here for the kids,” or, “We’re passionate about children.”
Now, I don’t doubt the immediate sincerity of these statements when they are said. Many of the people professionally involved in education are there because they love what they do and they feel strongly that they know what is best. But I think we should look at these statements with a more realistic eye and assess where the real passion and sincerity is properly found when it comes to issues about children.
First, let’s ask some questions of those who would make these statements. Let’s ask, for instance: “Would you take a pay cut that would financially impact your own family for the betterment of your neighbor’s children?” Or how about: “Would you move from your current home to a smaller one in a less affluent neighborhood for the benefit of the children of someone you don’t know?” Or even: “Would you sacrifice two uncompensated hours out of every one of your evenings for the next 18 years to help someone else’s child?”
Now, I ask these questions philosophically. My point is that there is only one place where the true passion for a child lies. That is with its parents. No one feels more deeply about children, or has more at stake than a parent. And no one but a parent will sacrifice more for that child. No one. Parents matter more in a child’s life than anyone else.
And yet, the long running philosophy of education in this country has virtually relegated parents to the sidelines. Generations of parents had been told that they should be seen and not heard; that they are not fit to act as the guardians of their child’s education and therefore do not need or deserve educational choices. They don’t get to participate in the arena at a level that has a meaningful impact on its outcome.
The very people who have the most at stake with respect to children are told with varying degrees of arrogance that they are not the experts, and that they need to sit down, shut up and accept what is happening.
Parents are repeatedly told this because they have not (pick one): been elected to public office, received a teaching degree, fought for teacher’s salaries and benefits, or administrated education issues. And then we hear things like: “Well, many parents aren’t interested in their child’s education.” We wring our hands and lament on how detached parents are to their child’s education, but we never wonder why. We simply blame them and then continue to strip them of any choice in their child’s educational needs.
How can we stop the blame and fix this system? We need to recognize that our number one priority is protecting the primacy of parents in their children’s lives. And we need to give teeth to this priority by returning the power over education back where it belongs.
The most efficient way we can start to do this is to give parents a choice in the education of their child. And I don’t mean offering a few special programs in their local school; I mean real choice in education. This will not be easy, as we have already seen. Misinformation and political ugliness may well be the name of the game. Without exception, this has been the case in every other state in the union that has fought for parental choice in education, and it looks like Wyoming isn’t going to be any different.
In the past month, Cheyenne parents have watched and listened to various forms of media coverage, and they have had the opportunity to attend public hearings about a proposed public charter school, Cheyenne Classical Academy.
Naturally, in an attempt to derail reform, a lot of disinformation has been tossed around. For example, it has been charged that Wyoming’s current public charter school system has not been successful. For obvious reasons, this makes for great “talking points,” because it plants the all important seeds of doubt that can blossom into a harvest of suspicion and fear if left unchecked by something as pesky as a fact or two.
The facts can be found if we turn to Albany County, the site of Wyoming’s only true public charter school, Snowy Range Academy. This public charter school has been a part of Albany County’s School district for over five years, and was conceived and initiated by parents, independent of the school district. In June of this year, the public charter came back to the school board to have its contract renewed. This is important. Unlike traditional public schools, a public charter school can be shut down by a simple vote of the school board, if the charter school is not performing to standards. In Albany County, the board voted unanimously to renew Snowy Range Academy for another five years. In terms of school performance and accountability, this is a success story.
Another piece of disinformation is that public charter schools will take money away from their districts. Wyoming statute has a kind of “mirror funding” provision. So for the first year, the district will still receive the same money for the now absent child, as the public charter school receives for educating the child. The district will see no financial hardship and will in fact make money the first year the charter school is open for business.
In the future, as the board makes its decision and our community grapples with the issues of choice in education, I want to encourage parents to continue to be involved as the true and sincere stewards of their children’s educational needs. Don’t be discouraged by those who would tell you that you aren’t the expert. You are the expert in your child’s education and you do matter. We fight for choice in education because parents matter.
Amy Edmonds is the Executive Director of the Wyoming Association of Public Charter Schools and a state Representative. She can be reached at aedmonds@wyoming.com.
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