Archived: Employers, Families and Education: Conclusion

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Employers, Families and Education

Conclusion: What's Possible?

Our country is poised at the brink of a challenging future. Businesses and other employers could not survive today without the contribution of their employees—their human capital. Education is critical to sustainable economic and community development. Good schools attract families to a community, keep businesses there and generate community ties. High performing schools can create opportunities, provide young people and adults with essential knowledge and skills, and connect families to critical services and support necessary to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities. Recognizing their important role in enabling more parents and employees to become involved, many employers have joined the nationwide Partnership for Family Involvement. The Partnership is a broad-based coalition of thousands of schools,families, employers, government and the community that have joined together to address intersecting concerns. Strategies that improve education and increase community cohesion are essential to the long-term success of economic and community development efforts.

The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education

What is the Partnership's mission? To promote children's learning through the development of family-school-community partnerships. Who are the Partners for Learning? Thousands of employer, family, school, community and religious groups comprise the Partnership. They have come together to support student learning to high standards. These Partners represent a growing grassroots movement across this country organized into four areas:

Employers for Learning promote policies and practices, such as providing flex or leave time to attend parent conferences, volunteer in schools, and/or sponsor parent training and child care through the work-site or in the community.

Family-School Partners for Learning support home-school partnerships to encourage reading, monitoring homework and participating in at-school activities such as school conferences.

Community Organizations for Learning support learning communities through organized before- and after-school and summer activities to help make streets safe for children and support supervised recreational activities.

Religious Organizations for Learning provide parent education programs, sponsor cultural programs, make their buildings available for activities and support out-of-school learning.

Sign on forms for all interested groups are available on the Partnership's web site -- http://pfie.ed.gov/ -- or by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN.

Creating Change at the Community Level

"Together, we must commit ourselves to a bold plan of action."

President Clinton

The long-term goal of the Partnership is to be a catalyst at the community level, that is to create communities where:

employers encourage employees to get involved with their community and schools;
schools openly welcome parents and volunteers;
communities provide safe, creative after-school activities for children; and
churches support parents in their family and work roles

One corporate sponsored project that works towards this goal is "Hand in Hand: Parent-Schools-Communities United for Kids," a national campaign, funded by the Mattel Foundation, which strengthens community partnerships focused on parental involvement. This community-based initiative and the company's paid leave policy were developed in response to a national parent survey revealing that educational involvement is a priority for parents, but that many lack information or time to participate in schools. Low-income workers, in particular, noted a lack of time, and said they needed the support of employers willing to provide them with the flexibility to visit classes during school hours.

Hand in Hand has produced and distributed public service announcements in various languages, as well as brochures, posters, and newsletters. Eight model communities sponsored by the program have conducted events such as "Parent Summit," "Take Our Parents to School Week," "Library Card Sign-Up Day," and "Kids' Turn to Teach." They have also sponsored career and resource information fairs for parents, and recognition ceremonies for teachers, parents, and community volunteers.

Some business executives are making it their business to increase family and employee involvement at the local level. For example, small businessman Terry Ehrich, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Hemmings Motor News, has acted as a catalyst and organized a group of concerned citizens in Bennington, Vermont to look at ways of encouraging parent and community involvement in education. Working at the local level, these efforts parallel those of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education by including schools, businesses, religious organizations and community organizations.

This hands-on effort has piqued the interest of school officials, organizations like the United Way, the Bennington Rotary Club, representatives of the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce and the Better Bennington Corporation.

Currently in an embryonic stage, the group is looking to fill gaps and coordinate rather than duplicate the efforts of existing programs. As it continues to develop and grow, this local initiative expects to maintain its focus on encouragement and support of family involvement in education throughout its community.

"The sky's the limit... It's only limited by what our creative energy is...I'm hoping that Bennington will become a community in which parental involvement will be expected."

Terry Ehrich
Hemmings Motor News

-###-

[Community Based Efforts]

[References]