Education: A Family-and Work-Affair

EXECUTIVE MEMO

Education: A Family-and Work-Affair

nder fire from conservative critics who question its very existence, the Department of Education is trying to find a role for itself in improving education by leveraging the power of three groups: Families, communities and employers.

A 1993 Families and Work Institute report found that only 53 percent of employed parents of children ages 5 to 18 regularly attend school events; only 36 percent of employed parents help their children with their homework daily; and only 31 percent of employed parents meet with their children's teachers on a frequent basis.

So last year, Education helped create the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning, an informal coalition of more than 170 education, religious, business and community groups, to promote greater family involvement in education. One of the group's first moves was to commission Strong Families, Strong Schools, a report by the Families and Work Institute on the importance of including families and communities in educational improvement efforts.

Recently, the coalition zeroed in on employers. "We realized that without the cooperation of employers, we could only go so far," says Deputy Secretary of Education Madeleine Kunin. "From a practical point of view, most parents are working. They can't get more involved unless they get permission and support from their employers."

The group rounded up a number of companies that have already instituted family-friendly policies-and see the results in financial savings, reduced absenteeism and increased employee loyalty-to sign an Employer Promise for Learning, a statement which formalizes companies' commitments to learning-friendly policies. The Education Department hopes that the document will circulate among the CEO community and prompt discussion of practices such as Hewlett-Packard's flexible work hours (which enable workers to accommodate their kids' schedules and volunteer at the company's on-site elementary school), Fort Hood Army Base's Parental Involvement Program (which requires soldiers to attend parent/teacher conferences as part of their military duty) and John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s Kids-To-Go program (which sponsors educational activities for employees' children during vacations), among others. As of January, 200 employers had signed the statement.

"The Department of Education is not going to singlehandedly change the quality of education in this country," Kunin stresses. "It's only going to happen when families, schools, communities and employers get involved."

For more information on Family Involvement Partnership for Learning activities, call the Education Department's Information Resource Center at (800) USA-LEARN.