CEAM Announces the Missouri Parent Union and Parent Academy
The Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri is very excited to announce it will be forming the Missouri Parent Union and Parent Academy because the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri and its membership thought that parents and children were too often left out of the conversations and negotiations regarding Missouri’s education systems was unacceptable. CEAM and a group of dedicated parents decided a remedy for this problem would be creating the Missouri Parents Union to ensure children and family had a seat at the bargaining table along with teachers unions, administrators, and school boards.
What is the Missouri Parent Union?
The MPU is a group of dedicated parents brought together by the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri in 2012. The MPU was created to accomplish three things:
- Ensure parents and students have a seat at the bargaining table along with the teachers unions, administrators, and school boards
- Guarantee that the policy change happening at the local and state level are student-centric
- Hold elected officials and other decision-makers accountable for fulfilling their obligation to provide a high quality education for all Missouri’s students
How will members of the Missouri Parent Union be trained?
Members of the MPU will be trained through the CEAM Parent Academy. Parent Academy training will train members of the MPU on education policy, community organizing, and communication. Parent Academy trainings will be held at least once a month, but can be scheduled to meet the needs of potential MPU members.
What does the Missouri Parent Union do?
Once a MPU Chapter has been formed the Chapter will work to ensure children’s right to a high quality education at the statewide and local levels. The kind of work with which they engage will be contingent on the goals of each organization. However, each organization will likely engage in several of the following:
- Visits to the state capitol to educate lawmakers
- Gather petitions to reflect parents’ desire for a specific set of policy changes
- Hold rallies to demonstrate support for the Chapter’s goal(s)
- Generate earned and paid media to raise awareness of their Chapter’s concerns and proposed solutions
- Organize and recruit additional parents to join their union
- Support particular candidates and ballot issues that align with the Chapter’s stated goals
How can I get involved in the Missouri Parent Union?
There two ways parents can become members of the Missouri Parent Union:
- Start your own chapter of the MPU-In order to start your own chapter you will need 5-10 parents with a common vision of both the problem and potential solution(s). If you are interested in starting your own chapter, email or call Chris Geden at cgeden@ceamteam.org or 314-454-6544.
- Sign-up to attend the Parent Academy-The MPU Parent Academy is where our union members go for training in organizing, policy, and communication. At the Parent Academy you will meet other parents with whom you can start a chapter or will here about existing chapters that meet your needs.