These excuses should be secondary to what is best for the child. This practice is used when a decision is made and, upon appeals, everyone up the line backs the previous decision in a show of solidarity. It takes courage to stop and ask what is best for the child and avoid what is convenient to the system. This is where parents are invited to school to discuss an issue and find themselves listening to an extended one way presentation with no opportunity to ask questions or offer an opinion. Another practice is the symbolic, hidden agenda, or predetermined type meeting that is held to meet some bureaucratic mandate and the parents are asked to rubber stamp a decision.
People get very upset when they feel they are being used in a symbolic and disingenuous manner.
It has been my experience that parents respond in powerful ways when they are asked to understand and help meet a need, solve a problem, develop a strategy, establish a goal, and help achieve it. The Glendale Parent Teacher Association is a prime example of the incredible volunteerism and support for the schools. Hundreds of mothers and dads contributed nearly 200,000 volunteer hours of work to schools last year. The PTA helped in a vast array of activities that enriched the very fabric of the schools and the life and education of children. Educators are well advised to maintain effective and honest communication with parents and listen to what they ask or say.