By Ann McGough

The police are unionized. Trades people are unionized. School teachers have their unions too.

Now, a local group believes that it is time for the parents of Boston Public School students to organize as well.

Ann F. Walsh of Fairfax Street is the founder of Boston's Children First. This group says that it is their goal to "provide the children of Boston with excellent public schools-the best in the United States."

Their philosophy is that "inner city schools can and should have excellent schools; that urban poverty does not have to condemn children to an inferior education."

But what does the unionization of parents have to do with improving the quality of education that Boston Public School students receive? Ann Walsh says the answer is simple.

"There is a genuine vacuum of information so parents cannot find the information that they need, especially first time parents," Walsh says. "There is a vacuum of power. You need power to have a voice. All it takes is organization. It snowballs."

"The idea that parents of Boston Public School parents have a choice in where they send their children is an illusion and, in fact, the implementation process is a lottery, at best.

Under the current assignment policy, fifty percent of the seats in every school are reserved for students from within the "walk zone", or one-mile radius of the school. The other fifty percent of the seats go to students from within the zone. Dorchester is in the East zone, which also includes South Boston and Hyde Park. Walsh and Boston's Children First wants assignment zones reduced to neighborhoods. Dorchester would be its own zone; Charlestown would be a zone, etc. so that every school will be a walk to school.

Boston City Councilor Charles Turner is the Chair of the Council's Committee on Education.

"Everyone admits parental involvement is a critical element of success," Turner says. "There is concern of how well the (Menino) administration welcomes full participation of parents in the school process. Whatever ideas people have for bringing parents together…these efforts are appreciated. It is favorable for parents to have their voices heard."

Turner adds, "Organizing is good as long as the focus is to strengthen the parents voice and not an interest group trying to use parents as a screen for their own focus."

While some of the items on Walsh's agenda, such as neighborhood schools, the elimination of METCO and busing, the eradication of bilingual education, and the implementation of an elected school committee have been met with mixed reviews, no one seems to be opposed to the idea of Boston Public School parents having a unified voice.

John Dorsey, spokesperson for the Boston Public Schools says of the idea, "Superintendent Payzant's reform plan welcomes parent engagement. Parents are an integral part of education."

When asked if he thinks a parents union could fill the void created when the $500,000 used to fund parent advisory councils, such as the Citywide Parents Council was recently cut from the School Departments budget, Dorsey responded, "The removal of funding doesn't mean that any of the groups must disband. It means that they must find other sources of funding. The (parent advisory) groups that have been doing a good job will have no problem fundraising."

Ann Walsh has her own views on why this money was cut.

"Things are so bad that they don't want people informing each other," Walsh claims.

Boston Teacher's Union President Edward Doherty says that while he has no problem with parents organizing to have a voice in the schools, this group would not be a union.

"A union is a group of employees that organize for the purposes of bargaining with employers," Doherty says.

Lou Mandarini, Communications Director for the Boston Chapter of the AFL-CIO agrees with Doherty.

"They can call themselves what they want, but the central thing that a union does is represent employees and try to make changes that affect everyone. This would be more of an advocacy group than a union," Mandarini says.

But regardless of the heading on the groups stationery, the mission is clear: to create an effective and powerful line of communication between parents and BPS personnel.

Claire Fullam and her husband Richard have two children who both attend the Richard J. Murphy School on Worrell Street.

"A parents union is a good idea," says Claire Fullam. "A lot of times when you go to parent-teacher coffees, it is the same parents over and over. It would be nice if more parents got involved.

"(Murphy School Principal) Mrs. Russo is excellent. If there is a problem, she takes care of it right away. But sometimes there are things, like the problem that we're having with the air quality at the school, that she can only go so far with," Fullam says.

Some critics have even called Ann Walsh and Boston's Children First racist, saying that their ideas discourage diversity. To that Walsh responds, "The Black community feels that they have no choice in their schools. Neighborhoods are diverse. If the schools were neighborhood schools, they would be diverse. A Parents Union would empower neighborhoods through the children."

Boston's Children First is actively recruiting Boston Public School parents and other interest parties to get involved with their campaign to improve the Boston Public Schools. To learn more, call 617-282-2849.