SEATTLE (AP) - While talking on the phone, Luz Balderas sees a group of school-age children riding their bikes past her Sunnyside home. It's midmorning.

"They should be at school," Balderas says in Spanish. "Where are the parents?"

Balderas, originally from Mexico, is the mother of five children who have or currently are studying in the Sunnyside School District. Navigating the channels of a school district can be a daunting task, especially for immigrant parents, who may have a language barrier or lack basic information.

In 2006, the state Legislature established a new state agency to bridge these gaps. Although the Education Ombudsman's office is particularly helpful to immigrant parents because of the translation services it offers, all kinds of parents have benefited from its outreach and mediation services in the past year and a half.

The agency within the governor's office is charged with informing families about the public school system, helping them communicate more effectively with school officials and working to resolve conflicts between families and school employees.

The office was formed outside the state's education department after parents and lawmakers argued it might be difficult to get individual kid-focused help within the large state agency. Other states with education ombudsman's offices have made them part of existing state agencies.

So far, it has focused on outreach and conflict resolution, although only a few hundred parents and guardians - and one teenager - called the office to ask for help during the first 18 months. Getting the word out that the agency exists has been one of its first challenges.

That's why they have reached out to parent leaders like Balderas through presentations and community meetings and have mailed thousands of information packets to school board members, PTAs and school offices.

"The governor is very hopeful about the work this office can do, particularly in preventing conflict," said director Adie Simmons.

Simmons has worked in education all her adult life but didn't really learn to navigate the system until she became a mother.

"There's so much parents don't know, even involved parents," she said.

Although the achievement gap among the state's ethnic groups inspired legislative action, the reality of the office with a $900,000 a year budget has been greater than the original vision, says Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, who calls the Education Ombudsman's office "my baby."

"Not only did parents not know how to best support their students. We also felt schools did not know how to best engage their strongest ally, those families," said the lawmaker who lives in one of Seattle's most diverse neighborhoods.

Some of the requests for help or conflict resolution have come from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as well as teachers and school administrators. Lawmakers also have passed along calls for help from their constituents.

Simmons would like to see the trickle of complaints transform into a steady flow, recognizing that few parents know they can turn to her office for help.

The office does not provide legal advice, does not take complaints about government officials, about private schools or professional misconduct by an educator and it does not offer legal advice. They can, however, tell callers where to go with these complaints.

Simmons said her staff has learned a lot in 18 months about the depth of issues parents have concerning public education in this state, including some surprises.

"There's a lot of misunderstandings," Simmons said. "People think that OSPI is the boss. In reality, your (school) district is governed by a body of elected officials."

Better communication about all kinds of issues is the key to helping parents, Simmons, Santos and Balderas agreed.

Balderas said getting information has been a challenge for parents in her school district due to lack of school announcements and other handouts in Spanish.

"The most important thing, was to know the system, to avoid making mistakes and going from office to office that have nothing to do with the problem," she said.

Balderas was a part of a small group of women who traveled to Seattle for a conference hosted by the ombudsman's office in 2006, where they learned about the state's school system in their language. It was an important first step for her to increase her involvement.

"They educated us on how the district works. Who has powers. Who hires the superintendent," she said.

Learning how to complain is one key to negotiating the maze of public education, and it's the focus of several brochures the Education Ombudsman's office has produced in multiple languages to fulfill the outreach part of its mission.

One brochure offers steps for resolving conflicts and covers "How to Complain So People Will Listen." Another focuses on parent and student rights and outlines state laws concerning education. Other brochures give tips for successful parent-teacher conferences, and ways to prevent bullying.

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On the Net:

Education Ombudsman:

http://www.waparentslearn.org

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/