For the second time in recent months, the folks who read and comment on my Chicago blog have -- with very little help from me -- surfaced some serious problems going on in a school. Both times, it started with an email from a reader raising a concern or posing a question for discussion on the blog. Both times, the participants themselves -- the teachers, parents, and administrators directly involved -- have ended up writing in to relate their experiences. Check it out here. For some background on crowdsourced journalism, link here. Or for more on citizen journalism, here's the Wiki entry.
Sometimes, at least, teachers, parents, and community members can get to a story earlier and in more depth than already-stretched professional reporters. But I'm not sure they can pull it all together into any coherent shape, or push it forward. Is any of this happening where you are?
Here is a link to a site that provides some useful tools for parents –
www.schoolparent.net. They have useful online school directory and sign-up
sheet features. See the success story link at the bottom of the page on
their site. You can request an invitation from their site if you want to
join. Security and Member schools links are also useful.