Parental Involvement: Wouldn't it Be Nice?

The National PTO wrote about parent involvement in their child's education on its blog yesterday. In doing so, it recognized Minnesota, one of the few states that celebrates the role parents play in school. It's apropos, after all, as October is parental involvement month. PTO even has a parent involvement toolkit.

But, the PTO asks, why aren't more states following Minnesota's lead?

Parents can be a forgotten, underestimated group in school transportation operations - that is until something goes wrong. Understandably, pupil transporters concentrate on the needs of the children they serve, and some have a lot of special needs, especially those with disabilities. Parent outreach is vital when it comes to IEP meetings in which transportation service is a necessary component. Some schools here and there make the school bus part of back to school night, or bus driver are assigned or take it upon themselves to visit parents of the students riding their bus to talk about a variety of topics from bus stops to home life. Plus, it can be cool just to say hi and introduce themselves.

Meanwhile, Head Start relies heavily on parents. The majority of the more than 200,000 workers at and for Head Start agencies are local volunteers, many of them the parents of the children who partake in the federal program. It's so important of a topic that the National Head Start Association each December holds a special parent training conference.

What is your school district doing to reach out to parents? Is there a shortage of parents stepping up to the plate to make sure transportation service is all it could be? This month provides an excellent opportunity to question how parents are involved in the transportation decisions that affect their children. After all, they are the true customers. The tax paying ones.