🚀 go-pugleaf

   The National Campaign for Public School Improvement sweeps Iowa


                                           September - 9 - 1994

            DES MOINES REGISTER   DES MOINES REGISTER
            DES MOINES REGISTER   DES MOINES REGISTER
            DES MOINES REGISTER   DES MOINES REGISTER

              EDITORIAL   EDITORIAL   EDITORIAL   EDITORIAL

                             WANTED: PARENTS AT SCHOOL
    Nearly half of moms and dads don't show up at back-to-school nights

The message was simple.  It has been said many times before and will need to
be said many more: Parents should be involved in their children's schooling.
That's what U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley said this week when he
unveiled a major new parent-school network. There's a strong connection, he
said, between parent participation and how a youngster fares.

Of course people know this, relying on common sense.  Studies prove it, too,
most recently one by Child Trends, a Washington, D.C. based think tank.  Its
report also said that nearly half of the parents of high school students
don't attend PTA meetings or back-to-school nights and fail to volunteer at
school.

So if many people know the importance of parental participation, why don't
more people follow through?

Riley placed some of the blame on schools for failing to include parents.
Many schools need to do more. Yet many Iowa schools deserve praise for
welcoming parents, not just when they bring cookies to a child's class, but
also to help make decisions about how to operate the school.

The Iowa State Education Association, the state teacher's organization, for
years has promoted parental involvement in different ways.  Right now, it's
distributing a "Parental Involvement  Pledge" to school districts.

The pledge, produced by Project Appleseed of St. Louis, Mo., calls on parents
to pledge a minimum of five hours of time to the public schools each semester
and to spend at least 15  minutes each school night assisting their children
with schoolwork or an enrichment activity.

Riley placed some of the blame on parents for not volunteering in schools.
 Many parents aren't doing enough even when they could.  For them, it's a
matter of juggling priorities.  But for parents whose employers aren't
flexible, doing so can be nearly impossible.  Riley hopes to persuade
corporate America to do better.  It's in employers' self interest - they need
an educated work force - to heed Riley's plea.

America's public-school culture has long included parents - through
parent-teacher conferences and as homeroom mothers, to name a few ways.
 Broadening that commitment depends on those parents already involved
considering what else they might do, and on those who have never been
involved taking a first step.

Broadening the commitment also depends on teachers and principals making a
greater effort to invite parents in, especially those parents who might
initially feel uncomfortable.  It is the children of those parents who will
benefit most from seeing their mother and father at school.

Sure, just about everyone is pressed for time these days.  But everyone also
knows that a good education is priceless.  What better way to teach children
than for parents, and other adults in the community, to spend time at school?

Copyright Des Moines Register 1994

**************************************************************

To All Supporters of America's Public Schools:

Project Appleseed is organizing parental responsibility by focusing America's
attention on National Parental Involvement Day, November 17, 1994, during
American Education Week.  By this date, we will organize one million parents
to take the learning compact known as the Parental  Involvement  Pledge.
 Project Appleseed will also raise contributions which will be re-invested in
local communities to promote parental involvement efforts in support of Goals
2000; the Educate America Act.

The Pledge is the seed of Project Appleseed. With each signed Pledge, Project
Appleseed obtains the name, address, and phone number of the parents who want
to improve America's public schools. We need your assistance in spreading the
Pledge in your family, community and in your state.

To obtain a legal sized MASTER COPY of the Pledge for distribution in your
community's schools, send a donation of $15.00 to Project Appleseed, National
Campaign Headquarters, 7511 Delmar Blvd. Suite A, St. Louis, MO, 63130-3930.
We will also send you our campaign newsletter, APPLESEED TODAY, at no cost.
(Allow two weeks for delivery.)

Here on the Internet you can help the campaign by demonstrating to the
Department of Education that the Parental Involvement Pledge has grass roots
support in the following ways:

1. Send Secretary Richard Riley the electronic copy of the Parental
Involvement Pledge that we have provided.  Please read it, "sign" it with
your name and Internet address.

                                                                  and

2. Write Education Secretary Richard Riley and tell him why you support
Project Appleseed's campaign to increase parental involvement.


You can E-mail Secretary Riley at    goals_2000@ed.gov.    In the subject
portion of your E-mail write "Dear Secretary Riley from your City and State."
 So, the subject will say Dear Secretary Riley from Topeka, KS, if you are
from Topeka, Kansas.

Project Appleseed enjoys the support of the White House and a wide variety of
educational groups such as the National Head Start Association, Parents As
Teachers and the American Association of School Administrators.  We want you
to join the campaign that is improving America's public schools.

We love our children and we believe in America's public schools.

Best Regards,

KEVIN WALKER
President & National Director

P.S.  If you have previously requested a Pledge and have not received it, do
not be concerned.  Due to the enormous demand we were unable to fulfill all
requests in a timely manner.  We apologize for the inconvenience. Your Pledge
and newsletter will be mailed within the next ten days.

**************************************************************

                                     PROJECT APPLESEED
                      PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PLEDGEtm
                                              copyright 1993

AS A PARENT, I hereby give my pledge of commitment to help our community's
children achieve a truly independent future.  My declaration of
responsibility and commitment to my public schools are stated in these five
self-evident truths as spoken by President Woodrow Wilson:

           -That I am an owner of the public school system;

           -That as an owner, I bear a responsibility to participate in the
system;

           -That accountability for my public schools and its employees and
its funding rests with me and the rest of the system's owners;

           -That my child's future depends on the continual improvement of
public education;

           -And that this improvement depends on my participation;

THEREFORE AS A PARENT, I take personal responsibility for my child's
education.

           -I pledge to spend a minimum of fifteen minutes each school night
assisting my child in his or her schoolwork, or we will work together in an
enrichment activity;

          -I pledge to volunteer a minimum of five hours of my time to my
public schools each semester.

This is my commitment to our public schools.

Signed,



____________________________________________
Name and Internet Address

***********************************************************************

                                 PROJECT APPLESEED FINANCIAL REPORT

A copy of the organization's financial statement will be filed on January 2,
1995 and may be obtained by contacting:  Project Appleseed, 7511 Delmar
Blvd/Suite A, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130-3930.  Residents of the following
states will be able to obtain a copy of our financial statement and
registration from:

CALIFORNIA, Attorney General, Registry of Charitable Trusts, PO Box 903447,
Sacramento, CA 94203-4476; CONNECTICUT, Public Charities Unit, Office of the
Attorney General, 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CTo6106; ILLINOIS, State of
Illinois Center, 100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601; MARYLAND, (FOR
THE COST OF COPIES AND POSTAGE), Office of the Secretary of State,
Statehouse, Annapolis, MD 21401; MASSACHUSETTS, Division of Public Charities,
1 Ashburton Place, Room 1413, Boston, MA 02108; MICHIGAN, Department of
Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Section, PO Box 30214, Lansing, MI 48909;
MINNESOTA, Office of the Attorney General Charities Division, 340 Bremer
Tower, St. Paul, MN 55101; NEW JERSEY, Division of Consumer Affairs,
Charities Registration Section, 1207 Raymond Boulevard, 7th Floor, PO Box
45021, Newark, NJ 07102; NEW YORK, Office of Charities, 162 Washington
Street, Albany, NY 12231; NORTH CAROLINA, State North Carolina, Department of
Human Resources, 701 Barbour Drive, Raleigh, NC 27603; OHIO, Office of the
Attorney General, Charitable Foundations Section, 15th Floor, 30 East Broad
Street, Columbus, Ohio 43266-0410: PENNSYLVANIA, The official registration
and financial  information of Project Appleseed may be obtained from the
Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania,
1-800-732-0999.  Registration does not imply endorsement; SOUTH CAROLINA,
Sectetary of State, Division of Public Charities, PO Box 11350, Columbia, SC
29211; VIRGINIA, State Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services, PO Box 526, Richmond, VA 23204-0526;
WASHINGTON, Office of the Secretary of State, Charitable Solicitations
Division, 505 E. Union Avenue, MS:PM-21, Olympia, WA 98504-0419;  WASHINGTON,
DC, Department of Consumer and Regulation Affairs, Business Regulation
Administration, Corporation Division, PO Box 930201, Washington, DC 20090.
 Registration with any of these governmental agencies does not imply
endorsement.

Project Appleseed is a not-for-profit corporation operating in the state of
Missouri.  Contributions are not tax deductible.  Project Appleseed has no
affiliations with any religious order or denomination.

Make contributions payable to:
PROJECT APPLESEED
National Campaign Headquarters
7511 Delmar Blvd Suite A
St. Louis, MO      63130-3930