Should Schools Enforce Parent Volunteering?

     Awhile back I was researching a charter school that required parents to volunteer at the school at least twenty hours a year.  At first I was unsure of this policy.  Forcing people to volunteer is always something I struggle with, is it really volunteering then?  However, I think requiring parents to volunteer is one way to get them involved in the school.  If it is a clear expectation, I am sure many will gladly accept and enjoy the opportunity.  I think we forget that when students transfer from elementary to middle school, parents are often making the same transition.  We often times forget about this and once parents see there is no need for a room-mom or teacher volunteer helper, they lose the volunteer momentum and stop.  We need to create volunteer opportunities for parents, to keep them involved in the school community and with their child's education.
     Growing up I remember my parents volunteering at my school, even in high school.  It varied from serving food in the cafeteria, chaperoning field trips, to working booths at the summer festivals, calling BINGO, working concession stands at sporting events, or helping out with other school fundraising.  My parents both worked full time but managed to help out when they could.  They never really had to go out of their way to find something to volunteer with, they would usually get a phone call or a form sent home and were glad to help out.  After seeing the lack of parent volunteering at my previous school, it made me wonder if requiring volunteering is a solution to all of this.  I think perhaps a first step should be more outreach to parents in efforts to get them in volunteering.  Usually it is the same parents who volunteer, because the school knows they will say yes.  However, if there is more outreach to all parents perhaps more would be willing to help.  Then if the school still struggles with getting volunteers they could make it a requirement.  My school hired a mom who was always there volunteering to organize more volunteer opportunities.  It worked out really well.  She would organize volunteers for different events and activities and contact parents who were willing to come in and help out.  The parents seemed to really like it and it relieved some work from school faculty and staff in organizing it all.