input into the system from a wide segment of the community. For this reason, some authors have suggested that the focus of contemporary education has been too narrow and that for education to be complete and vital, it must include not only the expert opinions of educators but also the opinions of parents and other community members (Burch, 1993). This leads to the question: Should the family and local community be enlisted into the system as part of the overall effort to educate children? This question constitutes the problem focus of this paper and the topic area for which a position will be taken and supported.
The subject of parent and community involvement as viable and welcome input in the education of their children and a place for them in educational decisions made by the public school system has been addressed by Ornstein and Hunkins (1993). These authors note that in contemporary American, educators are seeing:
...the creation of temporary ad hoc committees comprised of community members and parents to assist in furnishing input into curriculum development and change efforts (at schools). (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993, p.320)
Ornstein and Hunkins welcome this development for several reasons. First, they note that in the past, the educational community has neglected to tap parents and other community members for their perceptions of current and proposed programs. The result of this failure has led to many antagonisms between parents/community which might have been avoided had parents/community members been given some voice.
Second, Ornstein and Hunkins state that schools, in a very real sense, do belong to the community and are not the possessions of educators. Thus, the community has an inherent right to have its diverse views incorporated, at least to some extent, into the system.
Third, the authors note that one of the implied elements of curriculum in American public schools is a teaching of the political m...