Immigrant parents are advocating for a greater role in their children's schools. They aim to improve children’s education and academic success.

Glassbrook Elementary: We Work as a Team

Few parents were involved at Glassbrook Elementary in Hayward when parents started organizing. Barriers included lack of information, pessimism, and conflicting schedules, say parents and teachers. “I was blind to the reality of my chldren’s studies,” says Yvonne Martinez, who now manages Glassbrook’s Flea Market.

Now the school has a parent center and 30 to 40 active parents. Parents help in classes, raise money, and maintain the school garden—and the relationship between parents and teachers has improved. “Children have benefited from these initiatives because they see effort is rewarded,” says parent leader Ilsa Alvarado.

To be more effective, parent leaders attended a Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network (PLAN) training. They met with the principal and also met one-on-one with other parents.

Alvarado added a box in the school office for parents to voice concerns anonymously. She also reassured teachers that “[parents] are there to help.”

When parents expressed their difficulties in understanding students’ test results, the school addressed their concerns. “Now they explain them much better,” adds parent Jaime Mendoza, President of the school site council. In addition parents are receiving training from the school on how to read the reports.

Parents raised nearly $6,000 for books and prizes for the children as well as a party for the teachers, says Martinez.

Parents are also active in the community to improve the school environment for their children. Parents, students, and community members clean the streets, removing graffiti and furniture, and also shoes from telephone lines.

The school offers meetings with translation for parents who don’t speak English, says Resource Director Griselda Castro. While mostly Latino parents are involved so far, African-American parents are also mobilizing.

“Together we get our children ahead,” says Alvarado. “We work as a team.”

Costaño Elementary: A Bridge to Facilitate Dialogue

When Nuestra Casa started working with Costaño Elementary in East Palo Alto, only a few parents were active. Nuestra Casa offered to help the school establish relationships with parents and serve as a bridge to facilitate dialogue, says Executive Director Andrés Connell.

Now parents are volunteering in classrooms, teaching traditional dances, and fundraising—and their involvement has boosted students’ achievement.

Nuestra Casa “Parents as Leaders” Coordinator Mateo Jaffe went door to door to find parents. He learned families, mostly Latino immigrant families with limited English skills, did not feel welcome at school.

When a new principal was hired— who was “more engaged with parents,” Jaffe says—Nuestra Casa worked to strengthen relationships between parents, teachers, and the principal. Parents meet to discuss issues such as better supervision at recess and then attend a monthly forum where “parents bring concerns and the principal listens," says Jaffe.

“In 2007, three parents attended [meetings]; now we reach 30 [parents],” says parent Rudy Rivera, President of the school site council.

Nuestra Casa surveyed parents about their children’s teachers. They presented the results to teachers and asked for their support. “Nine out of 20 [teachers] signed up right there,” says Jaffe.

Parents also provided input on a successful grant proposal. Some of the funds will hire teachers to work with children learning English and those who are struggling in school, says Rivera.

School officials were not available for comment.

Visitacion Valley Parents Association: Accessible Information

“When my daughter started school, San Francisco sent all the [educational] materials written in English,” says Winnie Zhou, parent leader with the Visitacion Valley Parents Association (VVPA). “We had to go to Chinatown to ask people to help us translate materials,” she adds.

VVPA parents pushed for stronger policies to make sure parents get information from schools and other agencies in Chinese or Spanish. Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) created VVPA to support parents in their struggle. Parent’s interest in supporting their children motivated them to organize.

“Parents won positive changes,” says Joanna Yuan, CAA Community Organizer. Parents surveyed 125 Chinese-speaking families about their language needs. They also testified at public hearings and before the San Francisco Unified School District in support of a policy to improve language access for parents with limited English proficiency. Now “VVPA works with the school district to determine which materials to translate and to improve services,” she adds.

"It's critical to have a strong partnership with a group like VVPA," says Christina Wong, Special Assistant to the San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent and former CAA staff member. "If we're not hearing about gaps in services, we won't know how to allocate resources."

VVPA also “brought petitions to legislators to ask them to support” legislation (AB 680) that allows parents with limited English proficiency to receive school documents in Chinese and Spanish, says Zhou. “It helps parents understand their children’s activities and what things they need.”

In 2009, CAA and VVPA successfully advocated for stronger language access laws in San Francisco. Parents testified at hearings about how the policy would make it easier to talk with teachers and pay property tax bills.

“VVPA has allowed hundreds of limited English proficient parents to become more involved,” says Yuan.

Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network: Parents as Advocates

Parents from all three groups found PLAN parent leadership trainings valuable in their advocacy work. PLAN trainings provide skills to help educate and engage parents for educational equity. “We saw the need to train parents so that they can be better advocates for their children,” says Training Director Rhina Ramos.

Ilsa Alvarado, parent leader at Glassbrook, learned at PLAN trainings how to talk with people and prepare meeting agendas. Now she leads trainings for other parents.

“PLAN helped me improve my testimony in public and get to know parents from diverse communities,” says Un-Un Che, VVPA parent leader.

Keys to Success

Seek out leadership training: Parents learned to be more effective advocates in leadership workshops organized by the Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network, Nuestra Casa, and Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Mobilize parents: Individual contact gives parents confidence to participate at school, says Andrés Connell, Executive Director of Nuestra Casa.

“I always tell parents that we are the ones who need to advocate for our children,” adds Alvarado.

Find allies: “The teachers have been in tune with us. The principal is our support and helps us do much more,” says Jaime Mendoza, a parent at Glassbrook.

Be persistent: “There have been difficult moments, but it is important to be persistent and have a positive attitude,” says Alvarado.

For more information:

• Nuestra Casa: 650-330-7437, www.nuestracasa.org
  
  
• Parent Center at Glassbrook, 510-723-3835
  
  
• Chinese for Affirmative Action, 415-274-6750, www.caasf.org
  
  
• Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network, 510-444-7526, www.parentactionnet.org
  
  

This article was reported and written originally in Spanish, thanks to the support of the Zellerbach Family Foundation.