Eleven years ago, The Abbott Leadership Institute located on the Rutgers Newark campus, began its journey with 19 parents and one teacher in a small classroom in the Cornwall Center. Our goal - to build a base of informed and empowered stakeholders for the Newark Public School system. The mission - to increase parent engagement as encouraged by Abbott v. Burke, and to educate parents in the meth
ods for effectively working with educators to ensure all of Newark’s children are receiving a good education. Over the years, we have made many steps towards progress, but the current climate of education reform and “fixes” makes the need for the informed parent voice even greater, and more urgent. Eleven years later, we are the “place to go” for educational information, and parent empowerment. We now educate 250 people each series, approximately 70 per class, with a mix of parents, educators, students, community, political figures and those who want to ensure Newark schools are adequately preparing our children for success. People come to ALI on Saturdays because there is no other place in the city of Newark to obtain such a thorough analysis of education policies and practices on a consistent basis. ALI continues to serve the needs of:
• Parents who want information about education policy and practice and a better understanding of the various components of school reform.
• Parents who want to become engaged advocates for their children’s education.
• Parent organizations that want to become major players in the plans for reform at their schools.
• Professional educators who want to engage parents in their schools and want to engage in advocacy for school reform.
• Community residents who have a sincere concern for public education and want to serve as advocates.
• High School students who are interested in using media and advocacy to tell their story, with the goal to create schools that meet their 21st century educational needs. NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
