It was an incredible honor to be asked to part of a Governor Cooper’s roundtable discussion on education.  Being a parent sometimes it is hard to get a seat at those important tables.  Parents are often left out or don’t even know they can speak out.  

At the roundtable, I spoke about the shared anxiety that both teachers and students sometimes share about their classroom.  I shared about how budget cuts negatively effect struggling students and those with disabilities like my son.  I also spoke about the dwindling resources, both in personnel like our TAs, and our physical resources like textbooks.  

Governor Cooper thanked Save Our Schools NC more than once for our advocacy and what a key role we played in getting some action behind the class size mandate chaos.  I felt proud to be part of a wonderful group of parents.

The day just got better.  In the evening, I learned that the Department of Information Technology granted the company Amplify a temporary stay against the use of IStation for the duration of the ongoing investigation.  I’m no huge fan of Amplify’s MClass.  However, IStation raised multiple red flags including signs of corruption.  

The movement to bring attention to the IStation issue proves that educators and parents working together make a difference.  It was teachers who investigated the story.  It was a school psychologist and awesome mom who researched the project.  It was parents who organized a press conference and used our platform it inform others.  Everyone working together.

When parents join with educators, I believe we are truly a force to be reckoned with!  Parents, I encourage to keep speaking out.  We make a difference.  We can get a seat at the big table and we help make change a reality.  Don’t give up.  Hang in there.  We can win the fight for a better funded public school!