The Parent Movement Plans for Next Year and Beyond

I was just reminiscing about the start of (TPM), how quickly it started and how we parents bonded and motivated each other.

We hardly knew each other, but united by our common goal, we quickly became a
team. We pushed through the initial resistance we received, we reveled in community support, and savored the ultimate victory:

At the March 1 school board meeting, parents, students and teachers addressed the board with their concerns over the impending decision to cut programs and increase K-3 class size. Several of the speakers moved me to tears, but in the end, the board voted to make it so. Teachers, parents and students left feeling disappointed.

Although there were a lot of community voices heard that night, I was pretty surprised there weren't more...but then again, I didn't get up and say a thing myself.

The next day, I talked to Ari. We were put in touch with Kelly and Lee and quickly joined by Amy. Over coffee a week later, our group was formed and dubbed by Ari, The Parent Movement. Brilliant! 

There are two parts to our movement. First, to pressure our school board to find a way to preserve our 25:1 K-3 class size ratio. Second, to inform ourselves of
how and why things happen in our district and passing that information on to
other parents.

The 25:1 class-size ratio was preserved for one more year, due to hard work and
cooperation on the part of the teachers union and the school district. Perhaps there was some influence by TPM, perhaps there was not. In my heart, I
believe our voices were united and we were heard. If nothing else, the teachers in our district know that we've got their backs. We've grown closer as a community.

Moving forward, through this school year and into summer, the original organizers of The Parent Movement don't want TPM to become a thing of the past. We want to become a resource to our community. We want parents from all schools to join in, to work in cooperation with the teachers union, the school district, and any other group that aims to preserve CVUSD's quality eduction. 

We want to continue to find out more about our district, about public education, about other movements out there and impart that information to parents who also want to learn more. We want to encourage everyone to get out and vote.

You'll continue to see and hear us at school board meetings, I'll continue to blog
about community involvement and issues of education, we'll continue to work
together to keep parents informed, engaged, and inspired.

Please email TPM with issues of education you'd like to know more about. I'm not saying we will have any answers, but lets work and find the answers together.