Welcome to Baltimore City Public Schools. Everything is the school's (read teachers') fault. Yet we have quite a few situations like this. It is great that the mom in this story is clean and wants to help. How many of our childrens' parents aren't clean? When this is the reality you face, standard educational practices don't cut it. What are we to do then?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't I gather. If they aren't pedophiles or murderers and it's been a while (4+) years since they committed a crime and THEY WANT to help out, why shouldn't they be allowed to volunteer? I think this is the problem with America now a days anyhow, instead of advocating for correcting individuals who have served their time, we put scarlet letters on their back and label them as undesirables that should hide under rocks, never to be seen by professional America again. Let them volunteer, it's obvious that the professional, middle and upper class folks out in the suburbs and downtown have better things to do than to volunteer their t and tennis time for "these kids".

There's this huge hullaballoo about volunteers, and to Bob's point, working people have scarce time to come out. Those that do need to be screened, because the last place for predatory individuals is a school.

I for one do not have time to manage volunteers, so keep them out of my class. I don't need another adult to keep order in my room. That's a sign that I never had it to begin with.

I think it's important to note that in some ways people with sordid pasts but the desire to do right now can be even more influential than teachers with a clean past. Their similar background and troubles buy them credibility in the student's eyes.

We brought a resident of the Baltimore Station, a transitional housing program for men (most veterans) with addiction problems to many of the schools we work with and the results were astounding. I believe that if there is one thing that will stick in these kids' minds from the entire school year, it was that visit and the advice about making solid choices that the men gave.

Now obviously the situation is difficult and anyone with a physically or sexually abusive background should be denied right off the bat, however, the potential for good is there.

I think I have an idea that might work. It is an effective and helpful way for parent volunteers to support their children and their community. Many parents of BCPSS children, and people who have a criminal record, do not have above a 5th grade education. Is there any information on the rate of illiteracy in Baltimore City? Sometimes parents cannot support their kids because they do not know how to do the work their children are doing. The parents could be serving two roles in the classroom. They could become a student where they desire; learn what they did not learn when they were growing up. The volunteer can serve as a role model in addition to their role of directly supporting the educational process. Parents and adults in the neighborhood have a powerful presence and a great deal of authority with our students. The parent will want order because that is the goal, but also because they will want to learn. The system could provide GED testing for volunterrs. Maybe we could even create a link with Baltimore Office of Employment Development or other career centers. My experience is that when parents are present in a school, particularly parents of disruptive students, it helps the student to be more focused and less disruptive.

To the school social worker--For years organizations have come to schools and offered free GED classes, unfortunately if the parents are not given the information they can not participate and there must be a certain number of participants in order for the program to continue, which is understandable. Allowing parents to be in classes to help and also be helped is a great idea and there are some schools where the Principal and the Teachers have allowed it but when you have teachers who do not want help (but complain that they don't have enough time in the day...)and some principals who have said out right that they do not want parents and sometimes organizations in their schools, then it becomes a real problem. Parents must feel welcomed in school and not just on the 1st day and on Back to School Night, the need to be informed of what their rights are as parents in Title 1 schools. They do not know that they have a right to be on the School Improvement team, to have access to the minutes, to have a say in the Home-School Compact, to understand what the Family Community Engagement Flyer is and why it is important for them, the do not know that they are the "stakeholders" that the School System is referring to in a lot of information that goes out. We must stop having a closed mind in our schools as to what the parents need to know. It is not just about the grades, its about the school as a whole. If parent involvement ceases to be then parents becoming involved will also cease.