Founded a century ago, these school-based groups bring parents into closer contact with their children’s education, support extra school activities and lobby for educational issues. In the 1950s and 1960s, they stressed classroom life and fundraising events like bake sales. The National Association of Colored Parents merged with the older association in 1970, focusing concern with desegregation. As tax reforms and social problems like violence have challenged both educational budgets and quality, these associations have taken on more important supplementary roles, although involvement varies according to class and gender, with women being predominant.