When Joe Dulin returned to Michigan from the Million Man March on Washington in October, he resolved to do something that would build upon the spirit of the massive gathering of African-American men. (See Education Week, Oct. 25, 1995.) After brainstorming for ideas, he organized a National African-American Parent Involvement Day.
“I was very moved by the whole situation and challenged to do things,” explained the 60-year-old principal of the Roberto Clemente Student Development Center in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Mr. Dulin has designated Feb. 12 as a day for black parents to visit their children in school, and he hopes the idea will catch on nationwide.
“Parents have to get out to the schools and talk to their children’s teachers,” Mr. Dulin said.
Mr. Dulin has spent the past 22 years with the Clemente School, which was established by the Ann Arbor school district in 1974 as an alternative school for troubled students. Although the school continues to enroll students with discipline problems, it has since evolved into a place that students want to attend.
Staff members prepare student meals, students attend weekly rap sessions, and, every day, Mr. Dulin greets each student with a handshake. Parents can attend a monthly breakfast to discuss their concerns.
“People don’t realize the power of parents--they want to do things but no one gives them direction,” Mr. Dulin said.
His idea has received an endorsement from the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the support of John Simpson, the Ann Arbor superintendent.
The DeKalb County, Ga., school board has chosen Reynolds Hallford as its superintendent. Mr. Hallford, 58, is a 34-year veteran of the county schools, most recently as a deputy superintendent. He will replace Superintendent Robert B. Freeman, who will retire as the head of the 86,000-student district in January. ... The Education Law Center in Newark, N.J., has appointed David G. Sciarra as its new executive director. He will fill the post held for 16 years by Marilyn Morheuser. Ms. Morheuser, who led the ELC’s effort to ensure educational equity for poor and disadvantaged children in New Jersey, died in October.
