Duval becomes third county in Florida to adopt nationally recognized parent leadership program
5/29/2018
May 29, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Duval becomes third county in Florida to adopt nationally recognized parent leadership program
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 29, 2018— In response to the results of its annual Public Education Perceptions Poll, which revealed 93.8 percent of Duval parents don’t even know who their school board representative is, Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) launched Parents Who Lead today. Parents Who Lead is an initiative that seeks to turn Duval’s parents and caregivers into civic leaders in public education.
The Public Education Perceptions poll conducted by JPEF earlier this year revealed most respondents, particularly local parents, are uncertain about how to get involved in public education at the decision-making level. The majority (74.6 percent) of Duval parents have not attended a school board meeting or contacted a school board member (73 percent). In fact, 93.8 percent of parents do not know the name of the board representative for their district.
“Family engagement in public education is critical. Students with engaged parents or caregivers earn higher grades, higher test scores and have better social and emotional skills,” Trey Csar, president of JPEF, said. “And when parents are engaged with public education as a whole, that impact creates a ripple effect through our district, our economy and our city as a whole.”
The launch of this new program makes Duval Florida’s third county after Broward and Miami-Dade to adopt the National Parent Leadership Institute (NPLI) model. NPLI exists to coordinate and increase the civic skills and impact of diverse parents to improve child and community outcomes as they build caring communities.
The Parents Who Lead curriculum helps parents become the leaders they would like to be for their children. The twenty-week course and civic practice offers detailed information on how change occurs in states and neighborhoods to improve outcomes for children. Parents focus on their interests in a supportive context and true collaborative environment.
Parents are offered five phases of training: A retreat to develop group and define mission; ten weeks on parent leadership with focus on voice, difference, values and family and community strength; ten weeks on how change occurs for children, including best practice, data analysis, model policy, network building and a communications framework; a parent- selected community project to practice civic learnings; and an optional Alumni Program, after graduation, to share projects and exchange information. Parents Who Lead is a true collaborative effort presented in partnership with NPLI, Jacksonville Public Library and others.
Applications and more information are available at jaxpef.org/ParentsWhoLead. The deadline to apply is Aug. 3.
Contact Charmaine Campo, Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications, at (904) 790-1178 or Charmaine@jaxpef.org for more information.
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About the Jacksonville Public Education Fund
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent nonprofit organization that works to spark innovation, relationships and resources to power the potential within and around our public schools to achieve excellent outcomes for all students. For more information, visit www.jaxpef.org or call (904) 356-7757.