Education Today

Parents

How many people trust themselves to diagnose their health problems or offer themselves sound legal advice. Few. We look toward experts, people who have dedicated their professional lives to being not just competent but qualified to do those jobs. Education does not follow that pattern. Parents generally think they are qualified to make education decisions because for at least twelve years of their life they were students. While some of the issues and problems I have discussed in this blog run counter to what I am about to say; Parents in many ways are proving to be a problem and not a solution to our educational woes.

Everyone has had a "bad" teacher, one who sat at their desk 90% of the time, gave out a worksheet (maybe a test every once in a while), and generally did the absolute minimum to get by. While many parents may say they have a high regard for teachers, those experiences sit in the back of their minds, fermenting, and eventually come out. For example, you have the "my child is an angel" group. When students like this get low grades or get into disciplinary trouble these parents go into denial mode. They make excuses instead of approach the issue head on. This group of parent comes from any and all financial levels and are believers in "entitlement." These parents like to place blame on the schools and the rules and not on their child.

At the political poles there are the "school is too liberal" crowd and the "school is right-wing" group. These parents like to project their own political agenda on schools, often times with little to no regard to what is best for their children. They attend school board meetings to either support or oppose political proposals impacting schools. This group tends to be fewer in number but are very outspoken and are often well educated and can pull in other experts or lawyers to push their agenda. It is worth mentioning here that schools and districts are afraid of legal action. First, it is expensive. It's to a school's advantage to negotiate a compromise than to stick to it's guns because of the legal costs. Second, it is time consuming. If the proposal is to install metal detectors using federal funds that are available for a limited time, drawing out the issue may defeat the proposal anyway. Third, and maybe more importantly, litigation brings bad press. Journalists went to school to and usually have some hidden axe to grind. Schools will do anything possible to avoid bad press.

Another small group that allows their beliefs get in the way of doing what is best for kids is the "public employees get too much" crowd. Some parents show up for a student/teacher conference or principal meeting already hating those in education because they are public employees that supposedly get these amazing "benefits", are paid for with tax money, and get three months off. The conversation with these parents quickly turns from their son or daughter and becomes the "easy" job educators have. Few people realize that teachers are still paid less than equivalent professions, those summer's are often dedicated to professional development seminars, learning more about your craft, planning for the next year, running summer programs if you are a coach or AP teacher, or teaching summer school for students that failed the year before. Teachers are paying monthly for their insurance like anyone else. The end result though is that the important person they should be discussing, the student, gets lost in this angst.

Finally, there is the "I do not care" group. In many schools this is the largest group. As teachers we are reprimanded if we miss an IEP (Sp. Ed.) meeting but parents cancel all the time. I'll say that again...ALL THE TIME! From their attitude when they do show up, it is obvious that their son's or daughter's education is not important to them. They are simply going through the motions because child protective services or the police have told them they have to. Unless these kids make a connection with a teacher at school, they are doomed. The homes of these parents are full of DVDs but no books.

So the next time you are pissed at schools, keep in mind that it is a complex organism. There is plenty of blame to go around and sometimes it begins with the parents.

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