AT BISD, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION IS CRUCIAL

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Teachers are parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. 

Some are steadfast to collect their paycheck and curse their colleague as a foe. Yet you have others of these teachers who go beyond and on a monthly basis think beyond themselves.

Of the many parents in the city who send their kid with no mask, teachers spend out of their pocket a cup/water bottle for the child to drink water, a mask to wear for safety, a pair of pants, shoes, shirt, and food because they can't get it at home. I know of friends who see their students as their kids, so when I read about this teacher's concern, I see it with the many that do care. 

Budgeting and fiscal usage aside, the school system is a business. Look at IDEA and having zero fine arts, those kids come to the public school knowing nothing into the classroom, so these little "clubs" don't cover what these kids truly need to be well rounded and resourceful, especially if they desire to continue ensembles at the university programs. 

While students can learn on their own, when they approach masters at the university, they will have to relearn concepts in the craft they practice. What we do in public education is not often reflected even in higher education and – let's face it – not everyone in the Rio Grande Valley is driving to push themselves to learn up to the PhD level. 

Our community sets up boundaries, when we need to motivate for even higher levels of achievement. Much research places white gloves on community contribution and the role of education, but the truth is more transparent. 

The community is a key to public education, so when parents call on other adults cowards or dissent it's beyond free speech, cooperation becomes a blunt way to move forward. You have polarized parenting "Maestra no lo regañe, es un niño"  while you have other parents who say, "whatever you need, please let me know." 

There is plenty of change possible but if you wanted to keep your child in a religious school out respect of faith, or get kicked out of IDEA because they can't deal with discipline, then the only resort comes to public education. 

This is at our core, unless you decide to home school them. Then please do, at least post your bachelors degree, masters degree, doctoral degree, research capstone, and state/nation licenses to your child to show you are the best medium, rather than YouTube University or Googleology. 

Because, I love to brag that BISD does have some hidden gems in the professionals they have, maybe not all who have a masters or PhD or EdD are in administration, those that do stay in the classroom with such degrees are key figures for change. 

What happens when you have a school who's stayed the same for 20 years, who scores like a roller coaster and whose kids parents in fact attended the same school yet don't want to contribute to the degree of allowing for change. 

We stabilize our entire system with community, yet much of innovation can be halted bu parents "If you don't do X I will go to the school board!"

 By jove do so, because teachers get tired of the community becoming stagnant. We need you to contribute and be part of the solution. That's all to say.