Paulette Wiley knows she may catch some flak for what’s she’s about to do, but the leader of the Education Brain Trust believes that African-American students in Des Moines are in an academic crisis.

“The bridge between education and incarceration needs to be blown up and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Wiley, director of the group which advocates for black parents and students.

Wiley wants parents to learn how they can help battle the problems affecting black children in the Des Moines School District — even if it means giving them cash as an incentive to attend upcoming parent meetings in May. A community meeting about the initiative is scheduled for next month. 

The group is considering paying parents $25 or giving them a gift card to attend parent meeting that will be scheduled at schools around the city in May. The “parent empowerment zone” meetings will include free food, transportation and child care. Wiley said the meetings will be fun and interactive.

“As I look out at the young people today, we can’t go to them where we want them to be,” Wiley said. “We’ve got to go to them where they are. If indeed that is an incentive, then that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Wiley got the idea to pay parents after talking with someone who organized a program for potential college students but saw the program suffer from low turnout. She said the person lamented the turnout would have improved if they had given away free Nikes.

Wiley doesn’t think that’s a bad idea, she said.

“When we look at what we’re spending on juvenile and adult incarceration, isn’t it worth a pair of Nikes?” she said.

Iowa tops the nation for suspending and expelling a disproportionate number of black students and imprisoning a disproportionate number of black adults, according to education and criminal justice data.

According to the most recent test results for Des Moines from the Iowa Department of Education, just 49.59 percent of black fourth-graders were considered proficient in reading and 54.83 percent in math. The results are even more dismal for black students in grades eight and eleven.

Des Moines School District officials this year told Gov. Chet Culver’s Youth Race and Detention Task Force that black students are twice as likely as other students to be suspended. Officials said the district was cited by the Iowa Department of Education because it didn’t serve black students in the least restrictive environment and for suspending black special education students for more than 10 days.

Some parents have “justly or unjustly” been disengaged and disenfranchised from the school system, Wiley said. Young parents “who basically raised themselves” have never been taught how to interact with school system and advocate for their children, she said.

Decades ago, black communities, through churches, foundations and businesses, helped struggling families, she said. Now there is a void, she said.

“If I need to entice you or offer you a peace offering [to attend parent meetings] then that’s what I’m going to do,” Wiley said. “It’s worth it. It’s going to catch some criticism, but it’s worth it.”

Wiley, who ran a non-profit community center for 10 years, also knows she’s fighting end of the school year apathy, but she is confident that parents will attend the meetings and get excited about the group’s plans, she said.

“I don’t think Union Baptist Church should be able to hold the people that come,” she said.

Upcoming meetings include having ASK Family Resource Center educate parents about the rights they have if their children are recommended for special education programs.

The group also plans similar efforts in other parts of the state.

“We need to get the parents out and get them engaged and get them voting,” she said. “They have rights out here.”