It was late at night when the text messages started flooding in. Parents on the Facebook group for her daughter鈥檚 school were furious鈥攁gain. This time, they wanted to call the press about curriculum complaints and teacher turnover at her child鈥檚 charter school. ShaElla Askew had been watching the situation escalate for weeks, offering quiet advice and sharing resources from the sidelines like she always did. But as parents started cursing at school staff and threatening media involvement over issues that could be solved through proper channels, she realized her behind-the-scenes approach wasn’t working anymore. “I responded to the post and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think this is the best route to go. How about I help, and we can devise a way to bring this attention to the board?'” That moment marked her transition from background supporter to front-line advocate.
Meet ShaElla
In her day job, ShaElla Askew is the communications manager for New Schools for Alabama, a nonprofit that helps start and support charter schools statewide. She manages brand awareness, educates communities about charter schools, and assists with the NSFA Alabama Charter Schools Parent Voice Network that empowers charter school parents in advocacy. At home she鈥檚 a mother of two teenagers and two step-children (ages five and six), with another baby on the way, she lives in rural Alabama where she鈥檚 increasingly used her communication skills to build bridges between parents and schools and take on leadership roles such as serving as a parent board member and community advocate. As someone who was “always an engaged parent, but a behind-the-scenes engaged type parent for a very long time,” she鈥檚 often learned the hard way that you need to step up and use your voice even when the system isn鈥檛 interested in hearing you.
The Journey
ShaElla’s advocacy story began with a simple observation: her fellow parents loved their children’s school, but they hated how the school communicated. When she met with school leaders and asked if they had a communications plan, their answer was revealing: “Actually, no.” Drawing on her professional expertise, she offered to help create one, with a crucial caveat鈥攖he school leaders and staff had to hold themselves accountable. “Waiting for two weeks for a response to a parent鈥檚 question was not acceptable.鈥�
The Facebook group situation that pushed her into the spotlight involved legitimate concerns鈥攖eacher turnover, curriculum issues, and unfulfilled graduation requirements. But parents were handling it all wrong, using staff’s personal cell phone numbers and creating chaos instead of following proper channels. At a certain point, the issues became so fraught that people began pulling their kids out of school. When she suggested working through the school board, some parents accused her of carrying water for the school. It was at that point that she decided to reach out to the school and offer to help them with their communication problems.
Later, when she joined the school board, she learned that the school was having enrollment problems. And she again volunteered to use her communication skills to help use their social media channels to boost interest from prospective families. Although she had success with this strategy at other charter schools, she soon faced obstacles when school staff failed to send her in-school photos to post. When the board suggested paying students to recruit friends instead, she pushed back. She suggested they could reach the same goals without spending more money. Eventually, the school bought into her strategy: consistent content and messaging could do the trick.
Making a Difference
One of ShaElla’s most powerful moments came when she helped a young mother understand her rights to speak to school leadership. Frustrated that the school wasn鈥檛 sharing test score data in a way that parents could understand, the mother had focused on complaining to her child鈥檚 teachers. ShaElla redirected her energy: “Forget about the teachers. They are not responsible for this. You need to talk to leadership.鈥� The parent had been ready to give up, but once she understood she could go up the chain of command, the school began including her in data meetings.
ShaElla’s most significant win came from a seemingly simple issue that revealed systemic barriers. Her eldest son and friends wanted to take the ACT college entrance exam, but many of them couldn’t afford the cost. She discovered that students on free or reduced lunch could take it for free by getting a code from the school. When the counselor claimed “we don’t do that,” ShaElla didn’t give up. After weeks of runaround, expired codes, and unanswered emails, she made a strategic post on a Facebook group for local parents explaining the situation and mentioning why her younger daughter was in charter school, instead of the local public school.
The response was immediate. The board called the next day, patched in the counselor, and when the counselor still claimed she needed more time, ShaElla had the solution ready: “I said, ‘I talked to the ACT representative, and they told me y’all can call and get the code over the phone… Here’s the number. I鈥檒l stay on hold.鈥�” The counselor made the call and got the code, but ShaElla鈥檚 message to them was clear: “The five minutes that it took for you to do that could literally change the trajectory of a person’s life, because a lot of kids in the school system can’t afford to take the test and could’ve just given up on college altogether.”
Words of Wisdom
“Advocate for your child’s education, even at an early age.” Looking back on her first years as a parent, ShaElla wishes she could tell her younger self to advocate earlier. She had her first son at 18 and didn’t realize he had ADHD until after his high school graduation. “As a young African American boy, most kids are just labeled bad… but he truly couldn’t focus. If I had known to really invest in other ways in his education, I definitely could have caught the ADHD earlier.” ShaElla emphasizes the importance of preparation and persistence: knowing the proper channels, not being afraid to go up the chain of command, and remembering that sometimes the simplest solutions can be life-changing for students who need them most.
Get Involved
ShaElla works with New Schools for Alabama, supporting charter school development and parent advocacy throughout the state, with a particular focus on empowering parents in rural communities to navigate educational systems effectively.
