Two Contrary Stories of Note and What Gets Taught about This Country

The first one comes from the Schott Foundation, a long-time supporter of public education. They recently had this post at their blog: Schott Summer School: Parent Organizing is at the Heart of Education Justice.

At Schott, parent organizing has been central to our grantmaking strategy from day one. Our grantee partners have been engaging public school parents for decades now, building public and political will for racial justice, equitable school funding, an end to the school-to-prison pipeline, and genuine parent voice in school governance.

But consumers of mainstream media would be forgiven if they thought parent organizing had been invented just a few years ago by the far right. Starting with opposition to COVID-caused school closures and later school board meeting chaos over book bans, Critical Race Theory, and rights for LQBTQ+ students, the picture of parent engagement on TV is a far cry from the serious work that’s taken place across the country over generations.

Groups like Moms for Liberty, which was recently labeled an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, use the rhetoric of “parental rights” to cover their goal of defunding and privatizing public schools. 

Know what phrase I love that the Schott Foundation uses? "Build bridges over wedges." That could be the phrase for all our political and social lives. 

A common tactic for right-wing politicians and advocates is to drive a wedge between parents and educators, posing classroom teachers as interlopers in the parent-child relationship. This has been a staple of their movement for decades, before even the debates over sex ed and evolution in the 1990s.

A 2022 Hart Research poll found that between the two statements “Parents should have more say in what their children are taught in school” and “Teachers and education professionals should determine the school curriculum, with input from parents,” respondents favored the latter by 58-42 percent.

Meanwhile in Florida (whoo boy, these people) from CNN:

Florida Board of Education approves new Black history standards that critics call ‘a big step backward’

The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the “full truth” of American history. 

The new standards require instruction for middle school students to include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” a document listing the standards and posted in the Florida Department of Education website said. 

When high school students learn about events such as the 1920 Ocoee massacre, the new rules require that instruction include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” The massacre is considered the deadliest Election Day violence in US history and, according to several histories of the incident, it started when Moses Norman, a prominent Black landowner in the Ocoee, Florida, community, attempted to cast his ballot and was turned away by White poll workers. 

Similar standards are noted for lessons about other massacres, including the Atlanta race massacre, the Tulsa race massacre and the Rosewood race massacre. 

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz argued at Wednesday’s meeting in Orlando that the changes to the Black history curriculum make it more “robust.”

“I think this is something that is going to set the norm for standards in other states,” Diaz said, adding that Florida would continue to “teach the good, bad and the ugly of American history” in an age-appropriate manner.

This cements Florida as a place that divides rather than teaches and teaches ignorant to their school-age public education student. If they want to teach the "good, bad and the ugly of American history" then it's going to be a very long history book about white people did to this country, before and after it became a country.

The Schott Foundation wants to unite parents and the state of Florida wants to divide parents. What a sad time we live in for public education.

Back to the Schott Foundation post where they offer these ideas for parent engagement (which SPS and the Board could consider doing):

1. Meet people where they’re at. Literally and figuratively.

Public meetings, one-on-one conversations, and member activities are all ways to encourage parents to get involved and learn more.

2. Create conditions for parents to engage.

Oftentimes, there are actual barriers that stop people from being engaged. And so if we give up at the first sign of what looks like disinterest, we’re missing out on real opportunities.”

3. Attend school board meetings.

This itself can be a useful networking tactic. Listen to other attendees who get up to speak, too. “If you’re thinking, ‘oh, this actually resonates with me,’ find a way to connect with that person after the meeting,” Letha Muhammad says. “Say ‘hey, I’m interested in seeing if you’re part of an organization, or if we can be connected and come to this space together in the future.’”

4. Be consistent. Be persistent.

When someone actually signs up to get emails, or text alerts, or attend an event, it’s a sign of real interest that should be taken seriously. Follow up with them personally, set up a call, find out what got them motivated.

5. Show up for others and they’ll show up for you.

I believe it was Woody Allen who said at least half of life is just showing up.  It's true.

Look to connect a parent’s individual problem with larger systemic issues in a way that lets them know that they’re not alone, and that together we can solve those problems for countless others.