As the debate over public education rages on, one area that almost everyone agrees on is the importance of parent involvement.  But what exactly is parent involvement?  How open are our schools to genuine partnerships? How well do our schools engage with low income communities and communities of color? What happens when the cultural values reflected in our public schools clash with the values and experiences of students and their families?    

This program will explore approaches that go beyond site councils and parent-teacher meetings (as important as they are) to deeper relationships between schools, parents and communities.

And to help us do that, we are drawing on the deep experience and knowledge of parents, educators, and community members who have experienced this issue from a variety of perspectives and approaches.

Join us Wednesday, Decemeber  11 at the Minneapolis Urban League (2100 Plymouth Ave N) from 6:30-8:30pm for our public discussion forum on this topic. This conversation will be taped live for radio and television broadcast. Light refreshments will be served. Children are welcome.

TruthToTell: Community Connections is made possible by a generous grant from the Bush Foundation, which has enabled TruthToTell to partner with KFAI Fresh Air Radio, St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), and selected community partners to present these discussions and dialogues on important issues like education, the environment, health care, politics and elections, transportation, Native concerns, youth issues and more, into the key communities affected by these respective topics for radio, television and online distribution.

CivicMedia-Minnesota is a 501c3 non-profit production company based in St. Paul, Minnesota, created to bring civic and media literacy to the Twin Cities region and Minnesota, informing, educating and empowering residents and students in local, state and regional public affairs and to amplify the voices of concerned  communities on key issues facing them every day. CMM’s main goal is to engage citizens by helping them understand issues of governance and public policy, critique media coverage of critical policy matters, encourage public discourse and help people take collective action to resolve problems and influence public policy.

Guests:

Victoria Balko- Former Chair, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change Education Committee

Zuke Ellis & Rebecca Wade- Parent/Teacher Home visit program team, St. Paul Federation of Teachers St. Paul

Kristen Talbert– Participant, Absent Narratives Project sponsored by the Minnesota Humanities Commission, currently works at the Ain Dah Yung Center for Native Youth. 

Other Designated Respondants:

Tracine Asberry- Minneapolis School Board Member, District 2, former Minneapolis  Public Schools and teacher and parent, PhD  in Critical Pedagogy from the University of St. Thomas

Amanda Norman– Board Member, CivicMedia-Minnesota, Project Coordinator on the documentary film project, “Increasing Parent Engagement Through Absent Narratives” from the Minnesota Humanities Commission and the Northwest Suburban Integration School District. Masters in Education from Augsburg University.

Kate Towle- Winner, St. Paul Foundation’s Facing Race Idea Challenge for her work supporting student voice as founder of Project START (Students Together as Allies for Racial Trust, Author, “Cultivating the Untapped Potential of All Parents”