Expect More Arizona’s Pearl Chang Esau’s passion for education is a testament to her family’s history and her own upbringing.
The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Esau grew up knowing that at one time her father’s parents lost everything they owned with Communist China and left their home to move to Taiwan.
The year before Pearl was born, Esau’s dad landed in Los Angeles. Through education, he found opportunity in his adopted country and rose to become a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
“I’ve seen how education can empower,” she said.
He passed that message of learning to his two children, so much so that when Esau graduated from college she went to work for Teach for America. Her first assignment was in a fifth-grade classroom in East L.A. She stayed with Teach for America and was executive director of the Arizona affiliate before being tapped in 2011 to lead Expect More Arizona as president and CEO.
“I feel we have so much potential in Arizona. I feel we have a great education system. We’re certainly not maximizing our potential,” she said.
Expect More Arizona’s message can be summed up as this: “It’s no longer acceptable to have mediocrity,” Esau said.
But much rests with the parents of schoolchildren. And that’s where Expect More Arizona now puts a lot of its hope. Though the organization started as a public awareness campaign to make strong education a priority, the focus today is on the power of parents.
“We have to help parents understand what that looks like,” she said.
Pearl hopes that through outreach and training, parents discover the key “building blocks” of education.
The group’s building blocks include “world-class achievement,” and the idea that all Arizona students should be “prepared for and successful in college and career;” and a “commitment to innovation,” or the expectation that “Arizona students are critical thinkers and innovative problem solves.”
To teach these ideas to parents, trainers are now attending workshops across Arizona. Those trainers will pass along the message to parents. Expect More Arizona plans to create a set of videos that highlight good schools and then take parents to see those schools through field trips.
But then, it’s the parents’ turn to take action, impressing what they’ve learned onto their children’s schools, Esau said.
“We’ve never advocated for abandoning neighborhood schools. We want informed parents who know what they want,” in education, she said. “You can improve your school.”
Advocacy for good education starts with parents’ desires for their children, then a desire to improve their school and then education in the state.
That message takes Expect More Arizona back to its roots and its “Vote 4 Education” campaign this election season. The group is again asking voters to consider what candidates and policies can best impact education, even creating a list of questions that can be asked at public forums. And once those candidates are elected, Esau said it is the role of parents to see that education remains in focus.
“Parents are the best champions for education we have in the state,” she said.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com
JMJ posted at 7:10 pm on Tue, Oct 16, 2012.
Good intentions, and best of luck. The best predictors of the success of any child's education still remains the parents' level of education and their socioeconomic status. While this is a good idea and probably will not hurt, it still smacks of having to teach people how to act as parents. Most parents who are serious about their children's education already know how to act and the questions to ask. Teach people the questions to ask, and will they still know what to do with the answers they get? When we have to teach intuition, there is a problem. Good intentions, still. Best of luck. I hope it works.
remo303 posted at 1:13 am on Wed, Oct 17, 2012.
Creating critical thinkers? What happens when the kids realize their parents are 47% of the problem?
Leon Ceniceros posted at 9:50 am on Wed, Oct 17, 2012.
This Organization isn't about making Parents responcible for their children's education.
IT'S ABOUT MORE ..."SCHOOL BUDGET OVER-RIDES"...."SCHOOL BONDS"..."STATE TAXES FOR SCHOOLS"..."CITY TAXES FOR SCHOOLS".
THROWING MORE MONEY AFTER BAD FOR FAILING SCHOOLS, FAILING ADMINISTRATORS AND FAILING TEACHERS WHO GIVE US.........."FAILING STUDENTS".