蜜桃影视

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U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Monday he wants 鈥渇amilies at the table鈥� as schools prepare for the fall, offering welcome news to parents who have felt shut out of efforts to help their children recover from the pandemic.

Last week, his staff took steps to fill up the guest list by contacting the , a network of advocacy groups that has been critical of distance learning, especially for low-income and minority students, and has pushed for schools to reopen.

On April 28, Christian Rhodes, chief of staff for the department鈥檚 Office of Elementary and Secretary of Education, met with Keri Rodrigues, National Parents Union鈥檚 founding president, and Marisol Rerucha, the group鈥檚 chief of strategy and partnerships.

Since then, the group鈥檚 representatives have been asked to work with the department鈥檚 School Climate and Discipline Work Group and the Office of Parent Engagement and Communication, and to be involved in a meeting regarding federal relief funds later this week.

鈥淭hey feel like we represent a really important constituency,鈥� Rodrigues said. 鈥淲e were very clear with them. We鈥檙e not here just to be disseminating information from [the department]. We need to be informing policy.鈥�

The department鈥檚 invitation to the organization to be part of its 鈥渒itchen cabinet鈥� follows accusations that the have had greater access to the secretary and the administration than other interest groups. The National Parents Union represents groups that have largely blamed unions for slowing down the reopening process and say schools have failed their children during the pandemic. Parent organizations were not represented during Cardona鈥檚 March 24 reopening summit, and in early April, Rodrigues said she was 鈥渇urious鈥� that the department had not yet reached out to any groups within the network. With states facing a June 7 deadline to submit plans to the department for spending American Rescue Plan funds, some of those local groups now want to have more say in how districts spend that money.

鈥淪tates are looking at revisiting what it means to have families engaged,鈥� Cardona said at the Education Writers Association鈥檚 annual conference. 鈥淭his pandemic taught us that we have to be nimble, we have to be flexible and we have to meet families where they are.鈥�

As part of his 鈥淗elp is Here鈥� tour to local schools, mostly in the Northeast, the secretary has interacted with some parents who don鈥檛 represent particular advocacy groups. And Rodrigues said her group is directing the department to other organizations 鈥渄oing important work.鈥�

Rachel Thomas, a spokeswoman for the education department, said working with parents is 鈥渃ritical鈥� to addressing academic inequities made worse by the pandemic.

鈥淚t鈥檚 with parents鈥� partnership that we can build our education system back better than it was before, and make sure our schools are welcoming environments that work for all students, not just some,鈥� she said.

In his comments to reporters, Cardona added that it鈥檚 important to ensure the relief funds are used for students that were the most negatively impacted during school closures.

The National Parents Union is working with the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington to create 鈥渁 checklist鈥� that families can use to track how districts are using relief funds. The materials are expected to be released next week.

鈥淭he questions are oriented around whether students are getting the individualized supports they need and whether parents are getting individualized information about their child’s progress,鈥� said Robin Lake, director of the center.

Rodrigues suggested many of the local groups that have been advocating for reopening schools will now become 鈥渨atchdogs鈥� to track the funding.

鈥淚t’s safe to say that until the pandemic, many parents never really gave much thought to how the school system operated, or how they used their funds,鈥� said Christy Hudson, a member of Open Fairfax County Schools, a parents鈥� group in Virginia. With the relief funds, she added, 鈥渋t’s more than likely that parents are going to stay involved, and keep an eye on the school systems.鈥�

Founded in early 2020, the National Parent Union receives funding from reform-oriented and pro-charter foundations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the group has polled parents monthly on topics such as school reopening, parents鈥� preferences for in-person or remote learning, and how prepared they think their children are for the next grade level.

The organization鈥檚 most show 58 percent of parents want both in-person and remote options this fall 鈥� an issue where Cardona鈥檚 expectations and parents鈥� preferences are likely to diverge.

Some districts and state leaders say they plan to limit or eliminate this fall, and Cardona said he doesn鈥檛 want 鈥渁 system where students who were underserved in the past select remote learning, because they don’t feel that that school is welcoming or safe for them.鈥�

Disclosure: The Walton Family Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and The City Fund provide financial support to the National Parents Union and 蜜桃影视.

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