Relationships are essential: CPLAN facilitates authentic, powerful, and mutually-beneficial relationship-building between CPLAN parents and students and state and local education decision-makers. CPLAN members leverage those relationships to advance issues of importance to them, whether on education or some other community issue, while decision-makers benefit from direct access to engaged constituents who provide invaluable input and support for advancing high quality education.

Parents and students are leaders: CPLAN provides opportunities, guidance, and the support that parents and students need to use their voices and power as leaders in their communities, including professional development and skill-building. Professional development of the CPLAN parents and students has consistently been a priority since CPLAN’s inception so that parents themselves authentically co-lead CPLAN. Staff members work individually with CPLAN leaders to develop personal development plans and provide training sessions and mentoring opportunities.

Empowered voices make change: CPLAN encourages, supports, and empowers CPLAN parents and students to tell their own stories and speak truth to power to advance a shared, specific set of goals and objectives. CPLAN’s success is dependent upon empowering parents and students to be the voices of change and then working together around a shared agenda. CPLAN members are concerned about a wide array of educational issues in their schools, and CPLAN staff work with parents and students to develop a consensus agenda annually to guide the work for the coming year.