parental role in education

Several rightwing/libertarian 3rd parties claim that parents have the sole responsibility for educating their children. Some of these parties say the federal government has no legitimate role in education. Some of them say that no part of government (federal, state, local) has any legitimate role in education.

But, if we could rely on parents to insure that their children are well educated (or even adequately educated), would public schools (the ones that enroll 90% of the nation’s K-12 students) be as bad as these 3rd parties say they are?

 

No.

The problem is we can't rely on the parents to insure that their children are well educated. So, it becomes a moral issue. While it may be true "that no part of government (federal, state, local) has any legitimate role in education" it is also true that government (federal, state, local) have a moral responsibility to try and insure that each child has the opportunity to gain an education.

I see the problem as being with the funding. I came from an area where the school districts were responsible for their own funding. The school districts had to go to the voters for their funding and if the voters felt the districts are not performing to the best of their ability and being good stewards of the publics money, they were not rewarded with increased funding. Now I am in an area where the school districts are funded through the general budget of the local government. I think that is a mistake. School boards shouldn't have to compete with other city departments for their funding. There is no distinct lines when a school district has to share available funds. How can they plan a yearly budget and address issues directly involving educating our youth when they may have to compete with a governing body that at any point may have more pressing priorities such as police and fire protection, infrastructure concerns and the rising costs of utilities that every community is facing. The education of the kids tends to take a backseat.

 

Actually education has been a government function in what is now the United States since about the 1640s when the Massachusetts Bay Colony established taxpayer-funded grammar schools. Furthermore, the national government has had a role in public education since the Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787- before the Constitution was even written and ratified.

In Florida public schools get funding through property taxes as well as appropriations from the state and federal government. Public school districts cannot borrow money (by selling bonds) without getting voter approval and such approval is not always forthcoming.

I see a greater problem in the lack of uniformity. As a private tutor I have had students in the same grade for the same subject who were not using the same textbooks. I’ve even had students for the same grade and subject from the same school and even though they use the same textbook they were not covering the exact same material.

 

It Is The Parents Responsibility to Educate Their Kids.

Regardless to if one is right or left wing, learning begins in the home.
Its the government fault that children isn't learning at home which
is no excuse for a child not to learn. That's a lie if anyone should
say that the government has no legitmate role in education.

The fundings of all schools begin at the Federal level. Which goes to
the Regional level, and through that system it goes to the regional
States.

I do not know what state or country you are in, but here in my home
state school districts is funded by the students head count, and if a
district school is low on students fundings for the district is cut.
Now on the other hand we have what you call Charter schools. Which
is not under the School districts leadership.

Teachers get paid to educate children in the classrooms, and if the
parents don't work with the teacher...the teacher may have a big
problem with that child. PBS (Public Television) have programs for
pre-schoolers to watch everyday to learn, and if that child isn't
prepared by time school starts something is wrong somewhere.

Parents should not get relaxed thinking that its strictly the teachers
job to teach, and babysit at the sametime. However there is Parents
who can not read or write themselves, or many has a chemical abuse
problem, and this is where the school system steps in to see what
the problem is.

So in closing some parents needs supervision like the child, and then
maybe something might work.

 

I don’t know about now but when I was in the 7th grade back in 1981-82 my class was constantly being counted according to student characteristics. We had to stand to be counted if we were male or female, if our parent’s were in the military, if we were white or black, if we were on reduced lunch. Funding was based on how many students of each type there were. Being counted got to be such a joke that my teachers eventually reached a point where they apologized to us for having to count us.

Actually in Florida Charter schools can only enroll students who have failed in public schools and even then charter school students must take the same standardized exams that all public school students in the state must take. This means that charter schools have to tie their curriculum to what public schools teach and by law they cannot hire a teacher that does not have a state public school teacher’s license. Furthermore, the local charter schools are notorious for their ineffectiveness and corruption.