History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
New Book: "Public Engagement for Public Education"
- 12-13-2010
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A new book co-edited by IDEA Director John Rogers and Brown University Professor Marion Orr can help put Compton news in context.
Last week, McKinley Elementary School parents in Compton pulled off the first-ever parent-led reform of an underperforming school. Using a new state law that allows a majority of parents to "trigger" reform, the McKinley parents petitioned Compton Unified School District officials to convert the school into a charter, one of four reform options that also included firing the principal, bringing in new staff or closing the school outright.
Helped by the nonprofit Parent Revolution, an organization that sprung from Green Dot charter schools, McKinley parents gathered signatures from more than 60 percent of the school's parents.
The incident has highlighted the importance of public engagement in education. A recently released book co-edited by IDEA Director John Rogers and Brown University political science Professor Marion Orr provides insights into the nuances of engagement. Chapter authors discuss the history of engagement and how it applies in today's world. Plus, as mentioned in the book's preface, it makes a point that engagement differs from participation, involvement and school choice, and outlines the necessary steps to ensure it's a communal and interdependent effort for the betterment of all students.
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WHAT: Public Engagement for Public Education: Joining Forces to Revitalize Democracy and Equalize Schools
WHO: John Rogers, IDEA director and UCLA associate professor, and Marion Orr, Brown University political science professor.
INFORMATION: Stanford University Press www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=17518
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