Reply to Parent Engagement at Gentrifying Schools

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Reply to "Parent Engagement at Gentrifying Schools - WaPo feature story"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP non-paid Kindred parent here,

I’m not sure what the metrics are (not certain  what data was collected before Kindred versus after Kindred type of thing).

If I had one wish for Kindred it would be that it could facilitate a pathway to increase parent engagement in existing PTOs for parents of moderate income , versus the current system at our school. Money and social currency is definitely is a barrier for participation for many parents.

One thing I related to from the article was the first statement Mike made about walking into a pto  meeting and feeling unwelcomed. Not that anyone purposefully ignores or throw shade to a particular parent, but it can feel unwelcoming if one can’t rattle off a list of academic or social credentials just to participate and be treated with basic human kindness. [/quote]

This makes so much sense. And it's also really unfair for white people to ask people of color to educate them on white privilege and racism. It isn't their job or responsibility. It's emotionally draining at best ...  There are so many who just refuse to accept that white privilege exists, or that they are benefiting from structural racism.

I've mentioned this before on this board but if I were the dictator of DC for a week, I would force every white person to read [u]White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism[/u] https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414

[/quote]

Just re: the White Fragility book - I'd just respond with some narrow criticism toward that book in that it needs to be a little more prescriptive. It rightly hits people who can't cope with having their advantages in life getting called out and the "pain" that can come with having to identify the ways they can hurt other people through the lens of race and power. But these (we?) are people who aren't doing a great job of engagement - so we need another chapter, at least, on approaches to bridging racial divides, e.g., approaching situations with humility, emphasizing sympathy to others' perspectives, defensiveness should never come first, there is no congenital need to be right, accept room to grow in your own life and you'll get along better with others - that kind of stuff. Obviously this is not that book in one paragraph, but I think that's where the author needed to go next.[/quote]

I'm not sure why ensuring that everyone is included in important decisions (like aftercare and where PTA money goes, etc) needs to involve a giant, wrenching process that involves tons of emotional disclosure on all sides? How about processes that are just truly democratic, and take into account that it may take more effort to ensure inclusion than you might think as a UMC parent?  [/quote]

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