Volunteer in Public School (VIPS) is such an agency in the social work sector. The agency was founded in 1981 with the objective of increasing public participation and community confidence in public education. The founders understood that public participation and support were crucial elements in student’s performance. Consequently, VIPS’s mission is to foster student success and build support for public education. Its vision statement is to develop a strategic plan that calls for the organization to maximize student’s success and achievement in classroom and beyond. In this strategic plan lies VIPS’s three goals which include expanding core programming, reallocating resources and identifying partners. Currently, the organization runs three programs and services to meets its mission. Its three programs; EveryBody Reads that provides individualized reading assistance to pre-kindergarten through second grade students with reading challenges, EveryOne Counts that provides the same assistants to students in first, second, and third grades with little basic math skills as identified by their teachers and Ready4K! that provides supports to parents with 4-year old kids to assist in preparing them for kindergarten. The agency recruits and trains reading, and math friends and assigns them to different public schools to help the students sharpen their skills in reading and mathematics respectively. It also provides school volunteer management services, volunteer recognition events and partners in education services.
Volunteers In Public Schools’ Bureaucracy
VIPS’s organizational structure includes Board of Directors which consists of officers, directors and advisors. The officer position is the highest rank in the board and comprises of the president, the vice-president, the secretary, and the treasurer. Under the board of directors is the Executive director, precedes over the staff that manages the volunteers and the students. VIPS primary funding comes from its annual contract with East Baton Rouge Parish school district and donations as well as grants from public organization and partners. The agency is constrained by the Agreement of Confidentiality which mandates it to seek the consent of the parent or the guardian before accessing or sharing the information of any student. The agreement only permits one representative from VIPS to view student information such as test scores.
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Key Barriers to Volunteers In Public Schools’ Service Delivery
Despite its extremely noble course, VIPS faces substantial limited finding. As stated earlier, VIPS’s primary financier is funding is Baton Rouge Parish school district. The agency also receives funding in the form of grants and donations from the general public. Nevertheless, the funding is barely enough to support its operations. Consequently, VIP runs on a tight budget which derails its expansion plans as it can only recruit and train limited number of volunteers.
Likewise, VIPS experiences shortages in volunteers. Even though VIPS’s initiative is very fundamental to the performance of students, it is quite challenging to get volunteers for the different programs. Most of the potential volunteers are either held up in their jobs or schools. As such, the agency is forced to work with the few volunteers that they can get. This limits its expansion plans and derails its impact in the society.
Low perception of education and public education in American community is also a significant barrier to VIPS’s service delivery. Majority of the American population prefer private education as they believe it is better than public education. Moreover, the correlation between success and education is declining as most of the American millionaires and billionaires are dropouts. The rise of internet success is also affecting education severely. As such, the public has developed negative perception about education, and this affects the number of volunteers and education support that VIPS can raise.
Policy issues such as the Agreement of Confidentiality has also limited VIPS service delivery substantially. It is challenging for the agency to reach out to more schools and students as the law mandates that VIPS workers to obtain parental or guardian consent to access student information.
Conclusion
Despite the above challenges, VIPS continues to thrive in increasing student’s performance in different public schools. Its current success is thanks to its deep appreciation of the volunteers and its continued dedication to provide them with all the necessary tool they require to make positive impacts on their students. Its continued engagement of community in public education has transformed the society and inspired many volunteers to make a difference in the community. If the above barriers are addressed, the agency will expand its programs rapidly and reach more students.
Reference
Volunteers in Public Schools. Who We Are. Retrieved March 9, 2019, from https://vipsbr.org/who-we-are/
