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iVBlackboard (]omm«*nls jfllv A.J. William*A. J. William* is a teacher of Afro-American historv atWParker High School. He attended Crane High School and is agraduate of the University of Illinois. He is active withOperation Breadbasket. Black Teachers Caucus, and the Parker School Community Council. A teacher since 1963. Williams has held the positions of administrative assistant and school community coordinator. He has been very active with parents and students in the struggle for relevant and quality education. Also he is proprietor of the A.J. Williams Bookstore, 543 E. 79th st. He is particularly qualified to deal with the problems of education.Get Moving Parents!ONE BIG REASON why our schools are not together is the lack of parent involvement and participation There are numerous reasons why, but it remains true that parents, in black schools, are not involved in significant numbers. By this we by no means wish to take away from those few sincere, dedicated parents who have been on the front line for a long time.THE REASONS for not being involved must be taken into consideration. Most parents are caught up in a rat race for survival. In many cases this means both parents are working, and when not working are involved in the care of the children. It’s difficult to find reliable people to care for younger children while the parents are away. Large number of parents feel too inadequate to become entangled in school affairs which they think requires formal education. Unfortunately, the school itself has been responsible for much of the parental apathy. The community has not been made to feel welcome, and there are cases where they have been made to feel genuinely unwelcome. Mothers and fathers are concerned about adequate dress, talking properly, and general inability to relate to the problems of the schools. Needless U say the school has taken no initiative to innovate programs of community educationALTHOUGH we understand the feelings of the parents we cannot excuse them from their responsibilities to our children. It is the obligation of the parent to make sure that their child receives the best education possible. It is the parent’s duty to see that school is exhausting every resource at it’s command in order to turn out a product that will be able to function in a society which is complex, highly technical, and in need only of skilled, useful individuals. We as black people must also demand that the schools turn out people who will use their skill and knowledge for the uplift of all black people.Parents should visit the schools from time to time. Check with the teachers to see how their child is progressing. Do not wait until the child gets into trouble before you go to school. Learn about school procedures. Ask questions of teachers and administrators. The school is supposed to be there to serve you. and if it is not doing that it is high time you did something about it.Parents should organize It does not matter where you are called P T A. (Parents Teachers Association) Concerned Parents, or Community Council. The main purpose is to organize and find out what your problems are Then you can move to correct them.Move Parents and start to ask questions. When you began to do that and communicate with each other you’ll probably find that your problems are mutual. Parker, Englewood, Harper. Beale, Lowe, Bond, Wentworth, Reed, Yale, Gugge-heim all face common problems. It would be to their advantage to have a parent committee that could coordinate their isolated and sometimes futile effortsHow many parents have asked about the school budget? How many parents have askedwhy black high school students are reading at the 5th grade level, and have math scores that are the same. Have you sometimes wondered why blacks have 36 out of 635 principals, and yet we represent 53 per cent of the student body all over Chicago. What is being done to correct reading and math problems at your school? W'hy can’t students who do not wish to go to college be placed in decent jobs after graduation? Is this not function of school counselors? Must your son take remedial courses when he goes to college, and not receive any credits until after two years of college Why is that teacher permitted to stay there and not teach?MOVE—MOVE PARENTS! MOVE!
Newspaper Details
Englewood Bulletin
Chicago, Illinois, US
Wed, Jul 22, 1970
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 01 Aug 2022
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