NJ Education Report

Parent Champions for Strong Schools to Provide Parents this Summer with Resources, Tools, Support, and Instruction to Become Strong Advocates within their Local Communities

JerseyCAN, a nonprofit advocating for high-quality schools for all New Jersey students, announced today that this summer  it will launch Parent Champions for Strong Schools, a comprehensive training program that will provide parents from across the state with tools and training to become strong advocates in their local communities. 

This free training will be open to all New Jersey parents across the state. Trainings will be delivered virtually, once a week from July 13th through Aug 24th.  Participants must have a child, grandchild, or guardian in the New Jersey education system or a private school, fully commit to each of the training sessions, and show a strong passion for advocacy and improving education, and apply and be accepted into the program.  To apply for the summer training, parents are asked to complete the application found here by June 13th. 

“As a result of COVID, New Jersey has seen parents throughout the state become more involved in their children’s public education,” stated Janellen Duffy, Senior Policy Advisor for JerseyCAN. “Parents really rolled up their sleeves and leaned-in to their child’s education – whether it be their direct connection with a teacher, greater participation in School Board meetings, or asking needed questions on the local level, this kind of activism and self-empowerment has been an inspiration. Parents and families are the best advocates for their children, and we hope to use this training to support parents who want to strengthen their voice and improve the quality of education in their communities and the state.”

The seven-week training will include tailored sessions on  advocacy, organizing, and education policy.  In addition, sessions will focus on the education policy-making processes in New Jersey, ways to access and utilize state and local education data, sharing  best practices to address learning loss, and how to utilize advocacy tools to facilitate education improvements.  Specifically, the program will look to support New Jersey parents with the information and tools to advocate effectively at the local and state level.  Those parents looking for more information can find more information here and can contact the  parents@jerseycan.org.

Parent Champions for Strong Schools will now serve as the second advocacy program under JerseyCAN. In addition, JerseyCANcurrently leads the New Jersey Teacher Leader Policy Fellowship.  Over the course of one year, teacher fellows study the NJ education policy landscape, hone their advocacy skills, and achieve a short-term advocacy goal. The new free parent training program will look to leverage JereseyCAN’s years of experience as policy advocates and its deep connection with policymakers to help strengthen the voice of parents.