Leah Vukmir recalls the day she became a "right-wing wacko."
"My five-year-old daughter came home with a project called My Newspaper Journal," she said. "She was supposed to write whatever she wanted and use creative spelling to do it."
With creative spelling, Vukmir's daughter could spell words in her own way. Newspaper was spelled "noozpaper."
"I went to a school board meeting and asked when they were going to correct her work. The district officials said they didn't want to stifle her creativity and wouldn't start correcting her work until secord or third grade."
Vukmir, a pediatric nurse-practitioner, began to research how kids learn to read. She dug deeper. She found her school in Wauwatosa, Wis., wasn't using proven teaching methods. Concerned, she began to attend school board meetings and ask for research on teaching methods.
That's when the trouble started.
Like many parents, Vukmir's simple interest in her child's education soon became unwelcome.
"They weren't listening in meetings," she said.
Later a friend told her that the superintendent and administrators had started a whispering campaign against her, even calling her a "right-wing-wacko," Vukmir recalls.
"I was summarily dismissed," Vukmir said. "And I never even had an ideology. I was just a concerned parent. I didn't want them experimenting on my daughter."
Vukmir's story is common. Parents who get involved in their child's schooling - especially those who challenge fads or unproven methods - often get pushed aside.
"Parents are generally locked out of the process, because there is little incentive for schools to listen," said Paul Clopton, co-founder of San Diego-based Mathematically Correct, a Web site and parent group devoted to math reform.
Clopton says educators have a typical response pattern: "First, they brush you off or ignore you. If you remain persistent, they tell you education is best left to the professionals."
Dozens of interviews with parents confirm Clopton's views. Another tactic, as Vukmir learned, is to tar concerned parents as right-wing fanatics.
Still there are ways for parents to help schools and spur reform.
Veronica Norris, an education attorney and registered nurse, agress.
"Right off the bat, parents should get the published guidelines," she said. "And if need be, you may have to use the public records act. You have a right to any information the schools have."
Norris says parents need to compare the study guides to what's actually in the textbooks. You can also study standardized test scores, report cards on the district and school performance.
One problem is that the "process of reform is honored, not the results. Change is the order of the day, but no one looks at whether it yields good or bad results." Clopton said.
Many schools use curricula based on biased research that is anecdotal or uses small samples.
"If schools make claims about a program, always ask for the data." Clopton said.
"Ask if the research is replicable, reliable, experimental research based on the scientific method," agreed Julie Anders, president of the California Chapter of the National Right to Read Foundation.
Vukmir now heads the reform group Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools. Clopton and other San Diego parents founded Mathematically Correct in '95 after they saw their kids weren't learning.
"The best thing to do is pool resources with other parents," Clopton said. "You have to be a constant source of irritation, or you will just be ignored."
Also, most groups aren't made up of "right-wing wackos" or "the Christian right." Most focus on one thing: education. "We have an ironclad rule at our meetings," said Norris, who calls herself a political moderate. "If you want to talk politics, you have to go outside."
Once in a local group, you can work with other parents. "There is strength in numbers," Vukmir said. "School districts tend to want to divide and conquer. Go to school board meetings and demand a hearing."
J.E. Stone, a professor at East Tennessee State University, runs Education Consumers ClearingHouse alert (http://education-consumers.com).
The U.S. Education Department's Web site also can be valuable (http://www.ed.gov). The site has a special section called Publications for Parents.
"You need to know the tactics," Clopton said. "For instance, in a large-scale meeting, they have techniques for building consensus."
One tactic is the Delphi technique. Usually, a "facilitator" runs the meeting, which is supposed to allow parents to bring up concerns.
But parents aren't allowed to stand up and talk. Instead, the facilitator asks parents to put their concerns on paper. All the criticisms are written on a blackboard. Then the facilitator shapes the debate around the educators' views.
In other words, parents never get a chance to air their concerns or defend their views.
For instance, a lot of schools still back whole language - a reading theory that holds it's better to teach kids whole words in context than teach them to sound them out. The idea has been widely discredited. But many districts still push "literature based" reading instruction - another name for whole language.
Another tip, Anders says: Stop officials from using jargon. Challenge them every step of the way until they use language that everyone can understand.
Norris said, "I put parents through boot camp. Parents need to learn to break through the tactics."
Norris represents parents and children on special education and other issues before schools. "Often parents find themselves in meetings where they are alone and there are 10 professionals, telling them they know what's best," Norris said. "I teach parents to say (to district officials), 'You may be the expert, but I am the expert on my child.'"
Clopton agrees. "Educators want to be in charge of themselves. They don't want new bosses," he said. "They're also insulted by parents because they feel they have the education to know what's right for kids."
"The most important thing is, you cannot trust the schools. You must take responsibility for the education of your child," Clopton said.