« Fall 2008

Irvine Initiative Helps Empower
Parents to Improve Local Schools

Patricia Rodriguez is a fulltime mother who is devoted to her two daughters and wants the best for them. But she was "too shy" to even discuss her concerns about her children's education with their teachers at a Fresno public school because she speaks only Spanish, and their teachers speak only English.

"I didn't really have the nerve to come up and ask the teachers questions," she said through an interpreter. "I would just brush off my concerns."

Such reluctance is not uncommon among California's non-English speaking parents and in low-income communities. Even though their children are more likely to attend one of the state's underperforming schools, many of these families often don't speak out at school board meetings or get involved in local educational policy and funding decisions.

Yet studies show that when parents do voice their opinions and organize themselves, they can make a difference in local schools. Their efforts have contributed to changes in policy, resources and educational programs in districts and states around the country.

"We know that the involvement of families in educational decision making contributes to policies responsive to children's needs," said Amy Dominguez-Arms, director of the Irvine Foundation's California Perspectives program. "Yet many of these families feel their input would not be welcomed at school board meetings or in legislative offices."

Two years ago, Irvine launched its Families Improving Education Initiative to engage parents, like Patricia Rodriguez, in educational decision making. Aimed at families in traditionally underrepresented communities, the ultimate goal of the initiative is to foster educational policymaking that responds to families' concerns, benefits from their input and better serves California students.

The first grants under the initiative went to five community-based organizations in the San Joaquin Valley with strong connections to low-income residents. This year, Irvine is expanding the initiative to the Inland Empire and opening it up to community-based organizations in both regions through a competitive grant process. This new phase of grantmaking will be managed by Families in Schools, a respected organization with a long history of involving families in schools.

"Through this initiative, we hope the involvement of families becomes institutionalized so that school administrators and education policymakers find ways to include the perspectives and experiences of families as they make decisions about education priorities and school operations," said Dominguez-Arms.

After taking classes funded by the initiative, Patricia Rodriguez said she's now speaking to her daughters' teachers on a regular basis. As a result, she's getting more information about her daughters' performance in school and other matters that affect their education. She's also joined a community of like-minded parents through her classes at Reading and Beyond, a Fresno nonprofit that was one of the initiative's first grantees.

"We have built the connections to get them ready to be organized in communities," said Luis Santana, Reading and Beyond's executive director. "Once they are engaged, they come back and they bring other parents."

Maria Chavez, a Fresno mother of five, came to the classes because of a friend's invitation, and now her mother, sister and aunt have joined her. "You meet your neighbors from around this area," she said. "It's such a good meeting that even my youngest one — the three year old — wants to go."

In the past two years, the five community organizations have reached some 2,000 San Joaquin County residents. They’ve hosted community forums, scheduled small group meetings with school officials and offered parent workshops on nutrition, educational issues, leadership skills and opportunities for involvement in the schools.

In Tulare County, for instance, 150 families participated in the program provided by Community Services and Employment Training, another of the five original grantees. Participants learned about how to get involved effectively with both schools and local government, including their town councils and the county board of supervisors.

They also practiced their knowledge by attending school board meetings and meeting with local school superintendents, principals and other administrators. The highlight of the program was a trip to Sacramento where they met with some of their local legislators.

Carla Calhoun, deputy director of Community Services and Employment Training in Visalia, said most of the participants come from hard-working families who felt intimidated by educational and governmental systems they didn’t know or understand. She said the Families Improving Education Initiative has changed all that.

"What I have seen is the realization that they have the power to make changes — that they don't have to feel like they are at the mercy of the schools or a teacher or the school district," Calhoun said. "They gain the skills so that they are able to communicate with people in power, and they also realize they are people of power."

In expanding the initiative, Irvine is hoping to reach many more families in underrepresented regions of California. For the next phase, organizations in the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties) and San Joaquin Valley (Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties) can apply for funding.

As Families in Schools prepares to launch the application process for the next round of grantmaking, Maria Casillas, Families in Schools president, says, "We will be looking for grantees who understand advocacy is not a bad word, who have a sense of urgency and a real passion for the people they serve."

"We all know that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the attention," said Casillas. "We want that noise to become a melody that will generate changes in our schools and improve education for all our children."

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