12 Rules to Help Parents Take Back Their Public Schools

When we moved from Illinois a little over a year and a half ago I was hoping to escape many of the shenanigans that went on in the public schools in Illinois. We were so excited to move to Croydon when we read about and heard about Croydon's one-room schoolhouse. Croydon's one-room school house is great and I only hear great things about the very hard working Croydon teacher from parents. Problems arise when our children our shipped out of Croydon and when we have undo interference from those that benefit financially from our Croydon education tax dollars.




When I look for solace I remind myself of Joe Williams book Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education.

Mr. Williams offers up "12 Rules to Help Parents Take Back Their Public Schools"

Rule 1 "Never ever be ashamed of the fact that you want a good education for your child."
Rule 2 "If you don't blow the whistle on school problems, no one will.
Rule 3 "If parents want to be treated like customers, they must start acting like customers."
Rule 5 Don't trust the PTA's ( I took the liberty of paraphrasing this one.)
Rule 7 " If the facts are on your side, share them with the world."
Rule 8 "Fight for transparency throughout the system.
Rule 9 " If an administrator tells you something can't be done, assume they are wrong and plow forward."
Rule 11 "If you've tried steps 1 through 10, and your kids still aren't a priority, it's time to demand your tax money back." (My personal favorite rule.)

To read the rest of the 12 rules and instructions for those rules I suggest reading Joe Williams book Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education.

Cathy Peschke