One Organization. A Lot of Positive Change.

When it comes to advocating for educational and social justice, there are some organizations that get it so incredibly right you can’t help but be empowered and encouraged just by knowing they are out there working to bring about change.

One of these organizations, we believe, is Parents for Public Schools, a Mississippi-based organization that, as columnist William Raspberry writes, “is protesting that American communities cannot afford two separate school systems, one for the ‘haves’ and one for the ‘have-nots.’"

Parents for Public Schools shares our view that public education is a vital part of American life -- “an essential element of a democracy.”

Schools are important, the national organization’s leaders say, not just because of the written public school curriculum, but the unwritten one as well.

It is through that unwritten curriculum – the day-to-day interactions that come when students from varying backgrounds share the same classrooms, playgrounds, band halls and sports fields – that students learn how to function in a diverse world.

The organization, which was founded in 1989, insists that parents need to go beyond bake sales and field trip chaperoning, and to be actively engaged in systemic, “constructive involvement.”

This means that parents should have the opportunity to ask difficult questions, and to be involved in the governance of schools, serving as a bridge between public schools and the greater community.

And finally, the organization challenges parents to go beyond being focused on their own children, and instead to focus their attention on the needs of all of the school’s students.

The organization’s history is an inspiring one. The first chapter was formed in 1989 by 20 parents who were eager to recruit families to public schools in Jackson, Mississippi.

Those parents came together and brought about positive changes in Jackson schools. Soon, parents in other areas who heard about the effort began starting their own chapters. And today, the organization has a network of 16 chapters in 11 states, all dedicated to redefining parent involvement and improving public schools for all children.

How does that change happen?

Parents for Public Schools strategically structures its work around three areas – organizing for action, leadership development, and advocacy.

Their parent workshops inform and empower parents to become leaders within their communities and beyond. And their grassroots advocacy efforts consistently help to bring attention to issues that are essential to public education – and, in turn, to the future of our democracy.

Want to know more about this organization, which is transforming schools and communities in Mississippi, Texas, Michigan, California and beyond? Click here to check out the great work they're doing.