But 25-year Cambridge resident John Downing said at last week's city council meeting that parents should find ways to be involved without voting for school committee members.

"The parent who is concerned has many avenues, not least of which is to help with homework and to attend parent-teacher conferences," he says.

"If parents are really concerned they should get active and supervise their children," he continued, "that would be far more important than one vote."

The opportunities for involvement through attending meetings and helping with homework are simply not adequate, Smith says.

"These are immigrant families often working two or three jobs," she says. "They do not have the luxury of attending weekly meetings. They need to be able to elect someone on the governing board to speak for them."

The debate is about even more than parental involvement, says school Committee member Alice L. Turkel. The children of non-citizen parents are also denied a lesson in democracy, she says,

"We teach by what we do," Turkel says. "Many of the children are citizens. What is the message we want to send them--your parents don't count?"

Besides, says state representative Jarrett T. Barrios '90, who has supported the cause, involved parents are simply the best way to ensure academic success.