PIRC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement (Grant #U310A0600096) and is the result of a partnership between the CABE, the San Bernardino County Superintendent of School (SBCSS), and Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE).  Project INSPIRE has been funded since 2003 through 2011 (contingent upon available federal funding).

Goals

• Identify the needs of underserved families and help them understand their rights and responsibilities in the education system
• Develop parent leadership skills to support their children's education.
• Build partnerships between community organizations, schools, and families.
• Train parent leaders to work with other parents to effectively participate in local school reform efforts.
• Inform parents about the provisions in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Legislation for parent participation - their rights and responsibilities

Benefits of Parent Involvement

When parents are involved in their children's education, students are more likely to:

• Attend school regularly
• Earh higher grades and test scores
• Have better social skills
• Graduate from high school and go on to college

The overall goals of Project INSPIRE include:

• Providing high quality parent education and leadership development to parents throughout California with an emphasis on services to parents of CA’s most disadvantaged students.
• Building the capacity of schools and districts serving disadvantaged students to maintain high quality parent education and leadership programs.
• Building the capacity of parent leaders to provide training to other parents and to effectively participate in local school reform efforts.