Carolyn Warner has gained national stature as one of America's most articulate educational and public policy leaders. A product of pioneering Oklahoma stock her father was an Oklahoma State Senator teacher and newspaper publisher in whose honor the first public school in Oklahoma's Indian Territory was named. Her mother also a teacher served as a school principal in both Oklahoma and California. With six children in the public schools Carolyn Warner became an active parent volunteer and PTA member and she began her public service career with election to the Phoenix Union High School District Board of Trustees. In 1974 following a business career as VP and general manager of a family-owned interior/business design firm public service became a full-time commitment when she was elected Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction the first non-educator ever elected to this post. She was reelected to two additional four-year terms. During her tenure Warner became nationally known for her advocacy of educational accountability (both academic and fiscal); citizen participation in educational decision making; the integration of career and technical education and basic academic skills; and an unparalleled partnership with school administrators teachers and business leaders. Under her leadership Arizona’s Basic Skills and Employability Skills initiatives became national models and were among the first educational materials to be printed in the Navajo language. In 1986 she was her party's nominee for governor. Warner has received a number of Presidential appointments serving under both Republican and Democratic administrations the White House Conference on Small Business the National Skill Standards Board the National Commission on the Public Service and the advisory panel in the financing of elementary and secondary education.
The authors of this book provide specific strategies that school leaders can employ, both with families and other community members, to build support for their school. Numerous case studies of successful family-involvement programmes currently in use, are included.
