I'm frequently asked by parents how they can help to improve the school system. I speak to them about Successful Advocacy at LCPS of course, but a parent that I met last week gave me an additional idea: sponsoring recognitions for teachers and principals who are providing the kind of education that you think is important. LCPS recognizes its own in different ways, and Parent-Teacher organizations sponsor various de rigueur recognitions for teachers and staff, but I'm not aware of any Loudoun-focused school-independent groups who honor people based on exceptional performance.
The person who suggested this to me was speaking in particular about special education, a very challenging field in which parents and administrators often struggle to agree on what the needs of each child are and how to meet them. Imagine if all of the special-education advocate parents in Loudoun County nominated the principals, vice-principals, teachers and teacher assistants who demonstrated the best practices for providing special education services and recognized the best of them with awards and publicity. It would be a great way to show what success looks like, to thank the people who deserve it most, and to positively influence change throughout the county. So often people take the adversarial approach, and there is sometimes a need for that, but too many times it becomes the first approach. Once you're in adversarial mode it's tough to escalate your efforts without escalating the tension.
So if you're involved and trying to improve the way that LCPS handles a the issue that's most important to you, think about creating a county-wide recognition for the people who do it best.
You might also think about honoring your favorite School Board member. ;-)
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