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When a group of parents requested an expenses-paid trip to an out-of-town conference for 41 people, it was hard not to be skeptical.

The total bill would have run upwards of $74,000 and there are lot of meaningful things schools can do with 74 grand right here in River City.

School board member Garth Hebert called the proposed trip a "junket." This editorial page agreed, huffing that the trip didn't make much practical or fiscal sense.

I should know. I wrote it.

To be fair, however, these were Title 1 parents, meaning they send children to some of the poorest schools in the district.

And, to be fair, like most other districts, Guilford most consistently fails to educate its poorest students, who tend to do worse than their peers by nearly every measure.

But don't the experts say that parental involvement is a key ingredient to student success? And weren't these parents trying to do precisely that?

And doesn't federal Title 1 law, in fact, mandate high levels of parental involvement?

Well, yeah, it does.

But this is about much more than a trip or a conference, those parents say.

Karen Siler, Title 1 representative for the Guilford County Council of PTAs, said she was told point blank by one principal that school administrators may say they welcome parental involvement, but they don't really mean it.

"It was like I was stepping into their zone," says Siler, whose son attended Title 1 Wiley Elementary and now attends Mendenhall Middle School.

Another Title 1 parent, Lissa Harris, says the Guilford County Schools' Title 1 office is often unresponsive and uncooperative.

"Parents ask for information and often are given blocks and barriers," says Harris, who has a third-grader at Title 1 Murphey Traditional Academy.

As for the National Coalition of ESEA Title 1 Parents Conference in Birmingham, Ala., the parents insist that they weren't lobbying for free vacations on the taxpayer's dime. Far from it, said Siler, who attended a similar conference in 2005.

When asked the topics covered in that session, she rattled off a list:

• working effectively with principals;

• parents and teachers as partners;

• understanding Title 1;

• understanding the details of No Child Left Behind;

• questions parents have a right to ask;

The conference was begun by Title 1 parents to help train other Title 1 parents, Siler said.

But what happened when Siler returned to Guilford County? Not a lot, she says.

"When we went to teachers, principals and administrators, we were labeled as troublemakers."

The parents raised those concerns in a group interview. Two days later they and other parents repeated them to new Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green during a meeting in the Glenwood community.

They asked smart, specific questions about disciplinary policies, testing methods and teaching approaches.

"If it's homework, can it be relevant?" asked Linda Mozell, who tutors students of various levels in her home and volunteers in several Title 1 schools.

"And why can't schools be open after hours? We need learning centers."

Later, Janet Shapiro, PTA president at Ferndale Middle School in High Point, where her son attends, stood and took a deep breath.

"There is a problem with open, free flow of communication," she said. "They almost seem afraid to let you know too much. This isn't a secret. This is children's education. There is so much tension you can cut it with a knife."

Then a parent in the audience rose. She wanted to say she appreciated what the school system had done for her son, who has struggled in school and now is enrolled in Middle College at N.C. A&T. She nearly came to tears as she cited her gratitude that she'd finally found a place where her son enjoyed learning and could realize his potential and self-worth.

She was proud of the schools, she said. But that doesn't mean they can't do better. Everyone applauded.

At the end of the meeting, Green stood.

"I am pleased," he said. "I am very pleased to say that we have got so many folk who want their children to do well."

Then Green, who has made it clear he doesn't intend to make many promises, made one: He would convene a parent advisory community that communicates directly with him. "I don't want to filter," he said.

He had apparently seen the same thing I saw: a room full of partners.

And while sending 41 of them to Alabama might still be too pricey, I don't for one split-second doubt their motives for wanting to go. Not anymore.