Black Churches Join Educators in Drive to Involve Parents in Schooling

On a day proclaimed as “Education Sunday,” ministers and school officials from black churches throughout Southeast San Diego joined forces Sunday to urge parents and other adults to become more involved in the education of children.

“Let us not be guilty of sinning against our children because we don’t take time for them,” the Rev. Ellis H. Casson, pastor of the Bethel A.M.E. Church, told a congregation of more than 300.

Earlier, Tom Payzant, superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, had exhorted the churchgoers to support education as a crucial resource.

“Education is most vital to our being and our continuing as a democracy and a free society,” Payzant said. “If we take it for granted, our democracy will be taken for granted, and we will not be able to live up to our hopes and dreams.”

In all, school and church officials addressed congregations in 20 Southeast San Diego churches, always stressing the importance of education. The appearances marked the kickoff of a neighborhood campaign aimed at increasing community involvement in the education of children.

The move, modeled on a successful effort in the Oakland public schools, is a pilot program that may eventually be used citywide, school officials said. The black community in Southeast San Diego was targeted initially because of concern about low scores by black students on standardized tests.

“Education is especially important in the black community, because we have had to struggle so hard to survive,” Casson said. “Our parents have always instilled in us how important it is to have a good education. . . . I’m talking about survival.”

Black students represent about 15% of the 113,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District.

“There are all kinds of studies that show that kids do better if they have the support and help of their parents at home,” said Phil George, a spokesman for the district. “We have an obligation to help get local communities involved in local schools and in local education.”

As a central part of the program, parents and other adults are asked to sign pledges vowing that they will take certain steps “to encourage learning and success of children in school.” Among other things, parents signing the pledges agree to:

- Spend at least half an hour a day with their children on reading, writing, arithmetic or just conversation.

- Provide a quiet place for children to study.

- Meet their children’s teachers.

- Make sure their children get a good night’s sleep and that they get to school on time.

- Encourage their children to complete their homework every day.

In Oakland, where more than 100 churches were involved in the program, officials said that almost 25,000 pledges were collected from parents. In San Diego, too, parents seemed to like the idea.

“I do think that education is something that needs to be emphasized more often,” said Pearl Hayes, a mother of two school-age children and a parishioner at Bethel. “I do think the church can play a greater role in keeping education in the forefront for parents.”