In K-12 education, there is a saying. How can teachers close the "achievement gap"? In other words, if the students' parents speak little or no English, often lack formal education, and are strained by poor health, violence, inadequate housing and transportation, and the stresses of living in poverty, how can teachers be expected to bring those…

In the author's school district, teachers and parents found a way to change the question. "How can their community support the grassroots leadership development and organizing efforts of low income parents and guardians to close the "opportunity gap"?" Together they learned to roar. In 2007, the author and her colleague created Families with…