redefinED
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
  • Content
    • Analysis
    • Commentary and Opinion
    • News
    • Spotlights
    • Voices for Education Choice
    • factcheckED
  • Topics
    • Achievement Gap
    • Charter Schools
    • Customization
    • Education Equity
    • Education Politics
    • Education Research
    • Education Savings Accounts
    • Education Spending
    • Faith-based Education
    • Florida Schools Roundup
    • Homeschooling
    • Microschools
    • Parent Empowerment
    • Private Schools
    • Special Education
    • Testing and Accountability
    • Virtual Education
    • Vouchers
  • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Guest Bloggers
    • Ashley Berner
    • Jonathan Butcher
    • Jack Coons
    • Dan Lips
    • Chris Stewart
    • Patrick J. Wolf
  • Education Facts
    • Research and Reports
    • Gardiner Scholarship Basic Program Facts
    • Hope Scholarship Program Facts
    • Reading Scholarship Program Facts
    • FES Basic Facts
  • Search
redefinED
 
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
  • Content
    • Analysis
    • Commentary and Opinion
    • News
    • Spotlights
    • Voices for Education Choice
    • factcheckED
  • Topics
    • Achievement Gap
    • Charter Schools
    • Customization
    • Education Equity
    • Education Politics
    • Education Research
    • Education Savings Accounts
    • Education Spending
    • Faith-based Education
    • Florida Schools Roundup
    • Homeschooling
    • Microschools
    • Parent Empowerment
    • Private Schools
    • Special Education
    • Testing and Accountability
    • Virtual Education
    • Vouchers
  • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Guest Bloggers
    • Ashley Berner
    • Jonathan Butcher
    • Jack Coons
    • Dan Lips
    • Chris Stewart
    • Patrick J. Wolf
  • Education Facts
    • Research and Reports
    • Gardiner Scholarship Basic Program Facts
    • Hope Scholarship Program Facts
    • Reading Scholarship Program Facts
    • FES Basic Facts
  • Search
Tag:

Connecticut Parents Union

Advocate VoicesCommentary and OpinionCommunity LeadersEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation PoliticsFeaturedParent EmpowermentParent VoicesParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceVoices for Education Choice

A parent’s perspective: Unwrapping the Senate HELP confirmation hearing of Miguel Cardona

Gwen Samuel February 17, 2021
Gwen Samuel

Editor’s note: redefinED is pleased to introduce our newest guest blogger, Gwen Samuel, founder and president of the Connecticut Parents Union. Samuel will be a regular contributor to redefinED.

February 3 was a very reflective day for this Black Connecticut mom.

There were virtual celebrations across the country honoring past and present Black leaders, of all ages, as part of Black History Month, a time during which President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

I personally rang in my double nickel birthday—55 years on this earth, much of it as a mom and grandma trying to make my home, my community, my state and my country a better place as an unapologetic activist and advocate for safe, quality educational opportunities for all children.

A few hundred miles down the road in Washington, D.C., Dr. Miguel Cardona—Connecticut’s first Latino Commissioner of Education—found himself sitting in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) answering questions in a confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. Secretary of Education.

As I contemplated the past, I found myself wanting to be so excited for the future. I thought to myself, “Yes, this Senate U.S. Secretary of Education confirmation hearing could be the best birthday gift ever!”

Finally, the voices of parents, students and families will be paramount and encouraged under the new Biden-Harris administration as education decision-makers realize that “one size fits all children” schooling has never been a best practice or sustainable solution to meet the diverse learning styles and needs of the millions of America’s children.

What could demonstrate this more clearly than the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that continues to exacerbate the many inequalities that have always existed within public education throughout the United States?

That is the message I hoped to hear as I listened intently to the senators questioning Dr. Cardona. What I heard instead were more paternalistic talking points and rhetoric, the episodic, unfulfilled promises that families—especially Black families—have heard for years, from one administration to the next.

Families and parents were mentioned so infrequently during the hearing that one would think “we” are not part of the “us” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) kept referring to. The way they were talking, you might think our children are born to classrooms, not into actual families.

Said Sen. Murray: “We have a lot of work to do, we have an excellent candidate to help us get it done, and we have no time to waste. Any senator who has heard from a parent who wants to get their child back to the classroom safely — and I am sure everyone has — should vote to advance and confirm Dr. Cardona, without hesitation. And I’m hopeful when the time comes, they will do just that.”

Obviously, we need to place a priority on the safe reopening of schools, but that’s not a progressive agenda in itself. As a former track runner in high school, I see it more as a hurdle that we need to clear so we can get to the more important conversations about our kids:

Are we doing everything in our power to get them the quality K-12 opportunities they deserve and are legally entitled to?

Let us talk facts. The Constitution and its protections do not end at the school-house door!

It’s true that parents are concerned about their kids getting back to school, though 44% say they would like to continue a mix of school and home learning after the pandemic, according to recent polling data from EdChoice and Morning Consult. That preference jumps to 64% among private school parents.

That’s a data point worth talking about in the context of how this pandemic has changed our lives forever — and why the input of parents and families matters to help ensure an equitable delivery of educational opportunities across our country — regardless of race, zip code or income level.

Instead, the politicians only seem to be able to focus on which political party is better, bickering about ideologies, quick-fix vaccinations and HVAC systems. Why are they not talking about money following each child to a school or a schooling option that best meets their academic and life needs?

Why are we not talking about a massive, nationwide tutoring effort to combat critical learning loss? Why are we not talking about whether we need all these aging school buildings or if there might be different ways or places to efficiently and effectively educate our country’s future leaders — our kids?

It has been almost one year since our country engaged in mass school closures, and we are still trying to apply pre-pandemic educational solutions to what will be a post-pandemic education landscape. This business as usual approach has resulted in millions of  children across the U.S. not having received any formal education since their schools closed in March, a sobering new estimate of the havoc the coronavirus pandemic is wreaking on the country’s most vulnerable students.

If you were looking for a commitment from education decision-makers to really listen to families back in that Feb. 3 hearing, you probably were as disappointed as I was.

What I did not hear was that families that look like mine would be more than window dressing under this administration. I did not hear that diverse parents would be at the decision-making table alongside those we voted into office.

This would change the business-as-usual practice of the status quo long deciding what’s best for us even though we are supposedly free to choose. I did not hear about an education revolution that will break down barriers and upend a K-12 framework designed for the wealthy.

In the coming days, months and years, Dr. Cardona has a chance to find his own voice, transform this one size fits some educational system from the inside out, and do what’s right for all families, not just the ones who’ve been blessed with privilege and connections. Many parents like me will not stop fighting until we reach that day.

To quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle.”

I hope that in a year’s time, on my next birthday, I can write that our struggle for educational freedom — which is a form of justice and the persistent fight for our kids and their kids and grandkids’ future — led to change that started at the bottom and rippled out to every single family in this country.

Only then will this Black mom be satisfied. Only then will I be able to congratulate our elected officials and Dr. Cardona on a job well done.

February 17, 2021 0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Advocate VoicesCommentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityEducation PoliticsFeaturedParent EmpowermentParent VoicesParental ChoiceSchool Choice

Dear Dr. Cardona: An open letter from a Connecticut mom

Special to redefinED January 7, 2021
Special to redefinED

Education choice advocate Gwen Samuel of Connecticut frequently speaks to parent groups, reminding them of their right to education options for their children.

Editor’s note: This commentary from Gwen Samuel, founder of the Connecticut Parents Union, a grassroots advocacy group that recruits and prepares parents to harness their collective voices to protect their children’s educational rights, appeared recently on the EdChoice blog.

Dear Dr. Cardona,

Congratulations on your nomination to become the next U.S. Secretary of Education.

It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were sitting in your office here in Meriden discussing a bullying issue regarding my child. You were so attentive, and while I might not have been happy with all the decisions made, I always appreciated that you took the time to actually listen and recommend some appropriate supports — in a timely manner.

Your willingness to listen is a huge asset, and it’s why I wasn’t always *that* thorn-in-your-side mom advocating for my child.

I must be honest, as a Black parent, I was very surprised when I heard you were going to be President-elect Biden’s pick for Secretary of Education. I can’t imagine how it feels going from leading a school district of almost 8,000 students — 10 percent Black and 55 percent Latino/Hispanic — to leading our state department of education to leading the federal education agency all within a couple years.

I don’t have to tell you that we face some big, serious challenges — for the students here in Meriden and the millions across our country.

As you embark on this next chapter of your life, I wanted to pull up a virtual chair in your office like old times and offer five pieces of advice:

Keep diverse voices front and center. 

Historically, my journey as a Black mom looks and feels different from what White, Latino, Asian and other parents and guardians encounter. Invite us all to the table, and make sure you hear and take into account our feedback. Listen to families, who are directly impacted by your choices, before you listen to anyone else. We’re the ones who know our kids best, and it’s easy to lose that perspective when you’re making big, blanket decisions from an office in Washington.

Ensure that all parents have options. 

There’s no delicate way to say this, but the traditional public school system doesn’t meet every child’s needs — that is a fact — and parents and our children don’t have time to sit around and wait for the system to recognize and respond to this fact. There are lots of schooling types out there, and they should all be part of the mix, especially during this unprecedented pandemic where so many kids’ educational needs are not being met due to mass school closures.

That conversation takes a political turn far too frequently, so I’d urge you to imagine you’re sitting face-to-face with a parent like me before you erect any barriers that make it harder for families to get what they need academically. The financially stable families have always had a choice in K-12 education; the rest of us are looking for leaders to help change the educational landscape so we can have that same kind of access, too.

Make space for innovation. 

If this pandemic has shown us parents anything, it’s that we are resilient and able to adapt, especially when it comes to schooling. It’s also painted a clear picture of the haves and have-nots when it comes to K-12 education in America. Tens of thousands of students — many low-income and from communities of color — have literally gone missing from the system; we have to find them and get them back on track.

In order to do that, we have to maintain our innovative spirit and meet them where they are instead of forcing them to fit into a system that’s been letting them down and leaving them behind for generations — well before the pandemic.

Keep states in the driver’s seat. 

Your background in our Meriden school district and running a state department of education is critical as you step into this federal role. You know how much things are different from one district to the next — and how much state policies and priorities shape the way parents, students, educators and schools interact.

A top-down approach to K-12 education is not what we need right now; rather, I hope you’ll survey the state-by-state terrain, see what’s working and hold up those examples for others to replicate. Highlight what works best for children!

Watch your back. 

I say this to you with my mom hat on. Washington is filled with special interests and people who are entrenched and committed to doing things the way they’ve always been done because that’s how they earn a paycheck. I’m not mad at them for that, but make no mistake: They don’t represent my interests as a Black mom from Connecticut who’s trying to do what’s right by my family and other families.

Parents don’t have a highly paid lobbyist. It’s just us, and that’s how millions of parents across America feel. Those who depend on a system to make a living will do anything to defend that system. Be wary. Be skeptical. Be there for us as we parents will be there for you — working side-by-side.

I’ve always believed that families need to be part of a student’s academic journey, and the research supports my belief. That’s why I founded the Connecticut Parents Union, and that’s why I’ll keep fighting for my kids, kids in our home state and kids across the nation.

If we’re not doing everything we can to put power in the hands of parents — you from Washington, me back here in Meriden — then we’re not doing our jobs. Our kids deserve the best we as adults have to offer them to ensure a self-governing, hopeful future.

January 7, 2021 1 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Blog AdministrationEducation and Public PolicyParent EmpowermentParental Choice

Of love and responsibility for the child

Adam Emerson September 12, 2011
Adam Emerson

The emerging parent union and trigger movements are directing our dialogue toward a question too few of us are asking: Who has the authority over the child? To that, Connecticut Parent’s Union leader Gwen Samuel has added that a parent’s love and responsibility for the child cannot be equaled in even the most altruistic of educators, and our public policies would be wise to reflect that. On  the Dropout Nation blog, Samuel writes:

You would think that public policymakers and educators would realize that the best, most-productive, and logical way to improve relationships between parents, teachers and principals is to understand that it’s the love that parents have for their children that moves them into diligent advocacy for them. Policymakers and educators would be wise to channel that love into meaningful support for highly effective teachers because they have our most precious commodity in their care.

The question of love is not sentimental. As Samuel notes, parents are responsible for every aspect of their child’s life, and that responsibility does not, in fact, end at the schoolhouse door. A similar point was made by choice advocates and law professors John E. Coons and Stephen D. Sugarman 33 years ago in their book, “Education by Choice: The Case for Family Control.” Coons and Sugarman asked, Who really cares for the child? The professional educator can be unselfish and well-motivated to meet the needs of the student but is institutionally constrained in ways that often make disinterested judgment about the child difficult. “There is no reason,” Coons and Sugarman write, “to treat as mere sentiment the human perception that children by and large are loved more by their parents than by crossing guards, scoutmasters, welfare workers and teachers.”

Samuel correctly notes that when parents and teachers are empowered to jointly engage in the child’s interest, children “become productive citizens who can work in our economy, pay taxes, and build families.” That can also be put a different way by asking who will bear the responsibility for mistakes made in judging the interest of the child, as Coons and Sugarman write:

Wise policy seeks to link the authority for decisions with the personal responsibility for their consequences. While most professional deciders do not have to suffer the social consequences of bad decisions made for children, families — because of their permanent bond with the child — generally do. Being rendered simultaneously powerless and responsible in relation to their child’s education is sensed by the family both as an injustice to itself and a loss for the child.

September 12, 2011 1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Blog AdministrationParental ChoiceSchool Choice

Another voice for a parents union

Adam Emerson April 25, 2011
Adam Emerson

This week, RiShawn Biddle’s Dropout Nation features a plea from Gwen Samuel, the president of the Connecticut Parents Union, for families to demand greater accountability and choices for their children’s education. Just as Ben Austin’s California parents union has organized families to essentially take over a failing school, Samuel is shepherding a movement in Connecticut calling for an enhanced level of parental choice. “Quality-blind education will continue unless parents demand something different,” she wrote (Samuel’s union also is helping Tonya McDowell, the homeless Connecticut mother charged with larceny and ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution after authorities learned she enrolled her child in Norwalk schools when she should have sent him to Bridgeport):

If lawmakers and school leaders are not going to demand schools and their staffs to be fiscally and academically accountable for our children, then they should give us choice and attach each child with their per pupil amount. They can’t have it both ways. Either demand accountability of education leadership or give parents choice. If not, parents will take it. These are our babies and their lives are our responsibility.

Quality-blind education will continue until parents demand something different. We must demand access to excellent schools. That means, as parents, we can no longer have excuses for why we don’t visit our child’s school, or support them at home and in the community. If you can not support your child’s homework needs, let’s work together and find someone that can.

Parents want to be team players. We want to partner with educators, teachers, administrators, community and lawmakers to ensure better outcomes for all students. But the days of blind trust in what you do are over. We are learning to read and understand data, and learn and what high-quality schools should look like. Low performance will no longer be an acceptable option for our children. These are our children and we are responsible for their well-being!

April 25, 2011 1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS

© 2020 redefinED. All Rights Reserved.


Back To Top