There's no question that engaged parents are a precious commodity. There's also no question that Guilford County's public schools need more parents to take active roles in their children's education.
Does that include an expenses-paid trip to a national conference in another state?
The Guilford County school board wrangled with that delicate dilemma last week, as a group requested funding for as many as 41 parents to attend a Birmingham, Ala., conference on increasing parental involvement. These parents represented the poorest schools in the district, where there's a particular need for parental support. The October conference is sponsored by the National Coalition of ESEA Title 1 Parents, which specifically targets these types of parents.
On the one hand, it's encouraging to see such initiative, especially from poorer schools, where parents tend not to be as involved. On the other, the total cost could have reached $74,000 if all 41 parents, each representing one of the 41 neediest schools in the county, were to make the trip.
School board member Garth Hebert called the trip "a junket." That's too harsh a judgment, but he makes a good point when he wonders whether that money could be better spent in nuts-and-bolts ways, such as transportation expenses to school activities for parents of lesser means.
In an 8-2 vote, the board settled on sending four parents to the conference. That seems reasonable. But what happens when they return? How will they share what they've learned with others? Reports? Workshops? And wouldn't it make more sense to bring the experts here, to reach more parents for less expense?
If the school district were flush with cash, maybe all 41 could have gone. But as Hebert said, it isn't. "At the same meeting I'm looking at having to cut teachers and classrooms again." Couldn't as much, if not more, be accomplished for less if more parents simply would make regular trips to their children's schools?
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