For that reason, The Dispatch today continues an eight-day editorial series on that challenge. Improvements do not take hold, let alone endure, in school districts if parents aren't excited and engaged partners in the effort. That's a law of school-reform gravity. The Columbus Board of Education needs to go to school and learn how to have a two-way conversation with the public. Otherwise, the district is doing little more than miming its message to an audience whose back is turned.
Research shows that parental involvement is one of the most effective spurs to learning.
The Board of Education and Superintendent Rosa Smith know that. So do officials in the district's Department of Development and Communications. But a basic understanding seems to be missing. Citizens, particularly parents, should be encouraged to participate in as many district activities as possible, ranging from identifying new instructional concerns to having a voice in setting school-building priorities. But parents should be able to join much earlier in the process than on the day that events, such as that May forum, occur.