My mother used to volunteer a lot at my K-8 Catholic School, allowing us to study for free. When I was in elementary school, I loved seeing my mom on school grounds and would go up to her, even as she shooed me back in line. But by 6th or 7th grade, my eye-rolling teenaged self thought, can mom please get a job somewhere else? LOL!

While most mothers were very active at the school, I do not know how work-outside-the-home mothers and fathers felt about it. I was intrigued by this letter on Berkeley Parents Network and wondered if any of you share this concern:

I am just curious about other parent's reactions to the level of parent involvement in the public school classrooms. My child's teacher allows parents to come in to the classroom on a daily basis for hours a day. It is about half of the mothers, which gives it an overall look of a coop, and yet it is not. It is a traditional public school. Parents who don't work spend the day in the kids' classroom, passing out pencils and books. I have to say, I am a bit put off by it. I feel like there is a real potential for favoritism and unequal treatment between the children of working moms and stay-at-home-moms. I don't feel comfortable discussing it with the teacher or principal because I feel my child could be put at risk of being excluded. I do appreciate the support and good work of the parents who volunteer, but can't shake my discomfort as I feel that the parents are not respecting the kids' boundaries. When I was a kid, parents did not spend time in the classroom. Bake sales and PTA -- yes, classroom -- no. Also, a practice in teaching was that a teacher's child was often put in a different school or class so that the kid wouldn't misbehave and would have room to grow. With that reasoning, are the volunteers disrupting the balance of power in the classrooms? Would love some feedback.
Anon

I have been eagerly awaiting responses for over a week now, but I have not seen any. Perhaps most parents -- working or not -- simply do not share this concern.

I do know that parental involvement has often been cited as a factor in student achievement; that parents who donate time and/or money really enrich the experience for all students.

But I have at least one friend who teaches in the Berkeley public school system who has complained about overzealous and competitive parents constantly questioning everything she does and stepping on her toes. And while I did see some classrooms filled with volunteering mothers -- no fathers -- I did not think this was the norm and in fact, the school principals would brag about parental involvement since this really is a good thing.

I myself tend to volunteer outside the classroom -- I think this is my strength --  but moms in the classroom do not bother me unless they disrupt the class. Ari’s teacher actually politely pushes parents out the door at 8:45 a.m. since lingering parents tend to freak out kids this age. If one child starts crying, they all start crying.

I am curious as to what your take is on mothers in the classroom. Do you think this letter writer was a tad sensitive? Did she have a point? How do you help out your own children’s schools?