by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
A recent survey of more than 1,000 parents of kids K-12 across ethnic and socioeconomic sectors commissioned by Great Schools, found the number of African American parents planning to volunteer this school year jumped by 37% in contrast to a 6% rise in white parents.
According to the report, lower and middle income families in urban districts believe that the current economy will have a destructive effect on their kids’ schools.
To the researchers, who teamed with Harris Interactive, it appeared that the President’s urging parents to read to their kids, and attend parent-teacher conferences had an impact. This year 64% of parents believe it’s more important to volunteer than ever before.
The surge in volunteerism among black parents has a parallel in the “Obama effect” cited after key moments in the presidential campaign, when in a series of online tests, the performance gap between blacks and whites shrank dramatically.
While most parents feel that time is the greatest impediment to volunteering, the second obstacle cited was lack of opportunities. This should be a wake-up call to educators.
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