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Rev. Randall Parker, III – The Voice of the Parent on the
Toledo School Board
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
Several years ago, as his
young children began to enter Glenwood Elementary School,
Rev. Randall Parker, III, pastor of the Manifested Word
Church attended the school’s Parent Teacher Organization
meeting and, lo and behold, found that he was the only male
parent present.
Ultimately, Parker became
so immersed and so active in the organization that he was
elected president and during his tenure the group opened a
resource room at Glenwood making items such as clothing and
shoes available to students in need.
In 2013, Parker made a
decision to seek a seat on the Toledo Board of Education “so
that a parental voice could be heard.” That voice, says
Parker, “mattered for the good of the students.”
While he didn’t make it
onto the board in that first attempt, last spring when
School Board Member Cecelia Adams, Ph.D, was appointed to
Toledo City Council, Parker, in turn, was appointed to the
school board by the remaining board members.
Since that time, he has
participated in the appointment of a new treasurer and the
implementation of Parent University – a training session for
parents.
He’s looking forward to
doing some constructive work on establishing competitive
wages for the district’s teachers and staff. “We want to be
sure that re hire and retain the very best we can find.”
Parker, a Toledo native
and Start High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree
in business administration from the University of Toledo and
was ordained to the ministry in 2000, becoming a pastor in
2003.
He has been endorsed by
the Lucas County Democratic Party as well as by a host of
other groups and organizations such as Local 500, the Sheet
Workers, the UAW, the Electrical Workers and the Chamber of
Commerce.
“The support of both
workers and the business community has been a humbling
experience,” says Parker.
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