When she began her career in the 1970s, teacher Terry Clark from Chesterton Elementary in Linda Vista said 90 percent of her students had a parent available to help. Now it's more like 25 percent. And fathers, in general, are much less likely to be involved in their kids' schools. Additionally, teachers have found that some immigrant parents feel academics are best left to the school. They do not feel welcome on campus or sense a need to help with homework, views educators want to change.
Schools offer parents training programs so they can work with children on academics.
Many have resource rooms on campus, where parents can socialize while learning to help out in the classroom and at home. But no matter what schools do, the time crunch is ever present for parents. Parents on tight schedules want activities to do with their children that will help them learn, said Kim Vargas, Juniper's Parent Teacher Association president. Even the PTA, a bastion of volunteerism, is reshaping its image from fund-raising and pizza parties to academics with family reading, math and computer literacy events, Vargas said. Ideally, teachers need to ask parents to do what they can.