July 10, 2007
How Important Is Parent Power In Education?
I have long contended that the power dynamic caused by committed parents who decide they are mad as hell and don't want to take it any more will be the lever that moves things once and for all in K-12. The United Federation of Teachers in NYC gets this.
There is a rather amazing piece in this week's The Chief, a newspaper serving New York's organized labor community. It basically describes the work the teachers union in NYC did last spring to organize parents, and how the new bond that was formed represents a healing of past wounds (especially in Brooklyn) caused by battles between black parents and largely white, Jewish teachers.
"The union is strong, but we needed the parents," UFT's Middle Schools Vice President Richard Farkas is quoted as saying, describing the union's efforts with parents to try to block some reforms by Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein.
There is some very interesting positioning going on here as the union attempts to portray itself as a fresh, new union that is far removed from the days of Ocean Hill-Brownsville. The article is too long to post here and requires a subscription, but I'd be happy to email it to you if you drop me a line at joewilliams@dfer.org.
