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February 16, 2007

Parental involvement and NCLB

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that No Child is pushing schools to work more closely with parents.  But the story is beyond incomplete:

When "no child left behind" became the mantra of federal education officials five years ago, it was touted as a way to empower parents to ensure their children received a good education. If schools are chronically failing academically, children can receive tutoring or transfer. But there have been barriers to parents taking advantage of those offers. In 2003-04, only 1 percent of eligible students chose to transfer, and only 19 percent participated in supplemental services such as tutoring, according to a recent report by Appleseed, a nonprofit organization in Washington.

Such escape valves give parents leverage, but it's perhaps more important for family members to be brought in as allies as local schools plan improvement, experts say.

The implication: parents aren't utilizing the choice provisions included in NCLB, which is okay because it's really best if they devote their efforts to fixing the schools they're zoned into rather than going elsewhere.  But the reporter barely examines the barriers keeping parents from accessing choice, and fails to acknowledge that, at least in cities like L.A. and Compton, districts are in no hurry to see that parents are aware of their options under the law.  Are school districts really so brazen as to argue that NCLB is spurring greater parental involvement while evading their responsibilities on extending school choice options to those parents?

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