Parents' Councils: A Good Model for Decatur?

 Parents' Councils are catching on. What are they?

 In the September 4, 1997 DeKalb Extra, one of their presidents, Jim Clifford, described their purpose: "We've made it very clear from the beginning that we're not a classical PTA-type group," he said. "We're a political organization and want to effect change."

 The first Parent Council was formed in northern DeKalb County in the mid-1980s, focussing on Dunwoody High School and Peachtree Junior High. The Council enables parents to act in concert to influence the large DeKalb School system bureaucracy on behalf of their students.

 Two more Parents' Councils were formed this past year on the north side, the North East DeKalb Parents Council supporting Sequoyah High, Cross Keys High and their feeder schools, and the Emory-LaVista Parent Council, centered on Druid Hills High, Lakeside High and their feeder schools.

 So far the Councils appear to have been effective in accomplishing change, with the North East Council claiming success in replacing the principal and administration at Sequoyah this past summer. The Councils are also joining forces to form a coalition for more broad-based changes in the system.

 With a variety of issues, from teacher released time to special education, on the minds of Decatur's parents, it would appear such an organization might benefit the community and the school system. Certainly our small size is an advantage and would facilitate any role a Parents' Council might wish to play. And with the school board, in an election year, more inclined to be listening to voters, perhaps the time is optimal for formation an organized parents lobbying group. Among the things they could do would be to provide a forum for active discussion in the community, and among the candidates for school board, of the school system issues confronting us.

 Contact points for the DeKalb parents' groups are:

- Rob Holland

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