Education Brain Trust

Group Vows to Boost Parental Involvement in Schools, Stem the Flow of Blacks into Prison

by: Dana Boone, Iowa Independent
May 5, 2008

Some states have used the standardized test scores of fourth-graders to predict future prison population. Worries abound in Des Moines with just 42 percent of African-American fourth-graders this year reading at grade level -- and the results worsening as students advance through the Des Moines School District.

The fear is that prison will become the only option for some children unless parents begin taking more responsibility for their children's education, agreed leaders, legislators, school officials and parents at a community meeting organized by the Education Brain Trust.

"We as a community cannot stand up and say, "It's OK to send my child to prison,'" said the group's leader Paulette Wiley to more than 60 residents who attended a kick-off meeting on Saturday at Moulton Extended Learning Center. "I don't know if anybody else in the room is furious about that, but I'm not having it anymore."

The group will pay parents $25, plus give them a t-shirt and tote bag, to attend one of four upcoming "parent empowerment" meetings. About 35 parents on Saturday registered for the upcoming meetings. The advocacy organization's theme is "Our children. Our responsibility. Our future."

Wiley and others want to interrupt the "school-to- prison pipeline." Researchers, officials and activists in Iowa and nationally continue to seek solutions to the racial disparities plauging prisons and schools.

Wiley said it's time for action, not more talk and studies. Blacks must put aside their religious, political and personal differences and save their children from systems that are putting their future in jeopardy, she said.

Vince Lewis, principal of Des Moines' North High School and a speaker at the event, said parent involvement includes modeling good behavior, overseeing homework, ensuring children get adequate sleep and good nutrition and attending school conferences and school events.

"I can see no reason whatsoever -- none, nada -- why every parent does not attend parent-teacher conferences," Lewis said. "You know when it is and you know where it is. We can tell you now when it is next year."

State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines and a former Des Moines school board member, criticized parents' lack of involvement.

"For three years I was on the school board and I can count on one hand how many parents came down there," he said. "The majority of the time when I had parents come talk to me they said, `My child is getting expelled. What can you do?'"

Parents, especially young ones, need advice and training on how parent and how to stop the flow of black children in to special education programs, the juvenile court system and eventually prison, Wiley said. Iowa incarcerates and expels and suspends a disproportionate number of blacks, according to criminal justice and education data. The Des Moines School District was cited by the Iowa Department of Education for not serving black students in the least restrictive environment and for suspending black special education students for more than 10 days.

"If 50 percent of our kids can't read, you don't have to ask why they're in special [education]" Wiley said.

The Education Brain Trust is collaborating with ASK Family Resource Center, which helps children and adults with disabilities. The center received a $20,000 grant from Polk County for the training sessions.

Nansi Woods, a project coordinator with the center, said the disproportionate number of blacks being placed in special education programs is a national problem.

"In the parent empowerment meetings we're going to go into a lot of detail about how you can advocate for your child," she said. "Just be aware that some African-American children may be placed in special education because of their color, because of their culture and because of the language they use."

The parent empowerment zone meetings also will include free food, transportation and child care.

Some people have been critical of giving parents a financial incentive to increase parent involvement. Single parent, Alycia Ford, 33, a mother of five who is also raising her nephew, said there is nothing wrong with giving parents a small incentive because many parents need a little help. Parents have received store gift cards to entice them to attend meetings at Moulton and boost their involvement, she said.

"Sometimes that can [help demonstrate] that my school cares about me," said Ford, who is also a parent ambassador at Moulton, where she has witnessed an improvement in parent involvement. "Sometimes it helps to help the family out."

The incentive can help parents show up, eliminate negative feelings they have have toward the school system, increase their level of comfort and hopefully help them decide to remain involved, she said.

"Parents have got to get involved," said Frederick Davis Sr., state project director of the federally-funded Job Corps, who discussed the job training and education program for students who are unable to succeed in traditional high school. "I've never seen a child that was born that could raise itself."

Des Moines School Board Member Connie Boesen, who was among five board members present at the meeting, said a committee is working to improve relations with residents.

"We're excited about it and we're here to help any way that we can," Boesen said.

The Education Brain Trust was founded in 1982 by Wes Chapman, Larry Carter and Evelyn Davis. The group expressed concerns about the recruitment, retention and promotion of black teachers and administrators and lowering the numbers of black students who were suspended, expelled and placed in special education programs, among other issues.

Many of the concerns are still relevant today, Wiley said. She urged parents to bring other parents with them to the upcoming meetings. She said the issue is critical because a community's future is determined by the success of its children.

"My future will not be in Ft. Madison [penitentiary]," she said. "My future will be at the White House. My future will be discovering the cure for AIDS. My future will cure breast cancer. That's my future. Our future."

Speakers had passionate opinions about the issues, among them:

State Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, said: "I get phone calls at Urban Dreams, "Wayne, my kid said I can't come in his room' & Well, parents of today, things must have changed."

State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, said: "Parent involvement. Everybody is crying about it and the only time you get parent involvement is when your kid gets in trouble. And then you want to blame everybody around the table for your kid getting into trouble."

Upcoming "Parent Empowerment" meetings. Parents will receive $25 and other gifts for attendance:

" 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 17 at Carver Community School
" 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 31 at the Saydel School District
" 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 7 at Edmunds Fine Arts Academy
" 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 21 at Callanan Middle School

For more information contact Paulette Wiley at (515) 664-8670 or Nansi Woods of Ask Resource Center at (515) 243-1713