Informed choice the way forward, says visiting fellow

In New Zealand education it seems we have much to be thankful for: no metal detectors screening for weapons at secondary school; strong ties between community and schools; and choice.

Choice, that is, compared to the poor in downtown Philadelphia where, although there are a growing number of charter schools, poor inner-city children must attend the school closest to them - schools riddled with violence, poor teaching and little community involvement, according to a visiting Eisenhower fellow.

Keisha Hegamin, who is president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), a not-for profit group dedicated to getting good education for poor inner-city children in the US, visited New Zealand earlier this year. Her Eisenhower fellowship was to look at how parents in this country help run local schools. She traveled to schools around the North Island, including schools in the Far North, and met with parents, teachers and officials to study how New Zealand schools organised their school/community interaction.

"At home, parent involvement is just a label and is not real. Parents often don't feel - or aren't made to feel - welcome at school and as a result schools have become not accountable to parents for the results the children get.

"I was very interested to see how parents get involved and what sort of support they have in New Zealand. And the much greater sense of community and family in schools in New Zealand has been a real eye-opener."

Though New Zealand families often bemoan the lack of school choice in the system, Ms Hegamin said the parents she spoke to were often not aware of the choices that were available, and more had to be done - in New Zealand and the US - to help parents make informed decisions.

"Choice is only effective if there is information about how to make that choice, how to communicate with teachers and what makes a school good."

Informing parents of the choices for their children's education was one of the main aims of BAEO, as was offering scholarships to private schools for low-income families so they had could choose to move out of the many failing inner-city schools.

“School choice works - absolutely it does. It gives families more options and many studies have also shown it also helps boost the performance of public schools when they have to compete with other schools, charter or private," said Ms Hegamin.

There were currently 52 charter schools in Philadelphia, and BAEO was working to set up one of its own.

"Some are really great and some are suffering. It's the same as with all schools - you really have to investigate to find out what is best for your children."

• Keisha Hegamin is a former attorney who represented abused children and low-income clients. Ms Hegamin established the Philadelphia chapter of BAEO in 2000. Its main activity is its parent empowerment campaign, through which BAEO educates parents about being more involved in their children's education and accessing educational options besides public schools.

The BAEO website.

Information on Eisenhower fellowships.