Personal blog, written from my various perspectives: parent; elected Lexington Town Meeting Member (2006-2021); issues advocate and activist; board member Media Literacy Now (2013-2020), Progressive Democrats of Mass, and Parent Representative on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Older posts go back to Lexington School Committee (2009-2014) and Massachusetts PTA President days (2008-2012). Blog content mine, unless otherwise attributed. All comments moderated.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Rally for School Funding
Government mandates. Increased class sizes. Shrinking budgets. Curriculum cuts. Public schools today are challenged to provide every child with opportunities to meet their educational needs ... budgets are tight but government requirements and children's needs are growing.
The state of Massachusetts and local communities, with the federal government as a critical third partner, have a shared responsibility for maintaining public schools and assuring that all children have equitable access to a high-quality public education.
Across Massachusetts, schools lack resources for critical programs they need to reduce the achievement gap and overcome barriers to learning that threaten the quality of education for every child, and leave our most vulnerable children behind.
To keep the promise of public education alive, we must renew our partnership with our policy makers and promote a more fruitful collaboration on behalf of every child in every public school in every Massachusetts city and town.
The Parent Teacher Association is the oldest volunteer child advocacy organization in the country. I am a member of the Massachusetts PTA because we are dedicated to building community and statewide partnerships that work for our schools and our children. Being a member of our national and state PTA accomplishes great things; as members of PTA we have a unified voice that tells our legislators what is important to us.
Yes, family engagement is about building community and partnering with our child's teachers, and yes, it is also about packing healthy lunches and monitoring screen time and supporting children's activities - - but that's not the whole picture.
We all need to work together - beyond the classroom and school - to help our schools get the resources they need to fulfill the promise that public education holds for every child.
Albert Einstein is credited with saying, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
Advocacy is like an ever-flowing river, one that you can step into at any place, at any time. And whether you choose to dip your toe in at the edge of the calm shore, or wade all the way into the deep, your presence has already changed the course.
Now, we must make our voices heard for our children, all of our voices together, in one voice; one voice for children, one voice for children in schools, at town meetings and yes, even at the state house.