Anonymous wrote:why do you think this is taboo? everyone knows this and it is hardly newsworthy. look at the HBO special on the Baltimore high school where 3 parents (out of 1,500?) showed up for PTA night or something ...

I am not sure the PTA is a god representative of whether a parent is supportive of child's education. Gosh, I used to attend all the PTA meetings until I simply got tired of the BS, politics and bickering. I support in other ways. Grrr, everytime I think about the wasted hours at kid's PTA meetings.

When I was in teacher-school one of my favorite profs had these words of wisdom (and she was AA from a low socio-economic background): "If we would just charge a nominal fee for ALL 'public' schooling, people would take it much more seriously. It could be sliding scale, it could be just one dollar per student, but I think we should charge SOMETHING to put more value on education for those who don't see the value..."

Anonymous wrote:It's not about blaming anyone. It's been long-held that an educated populace is the best thing for this country (for any country, really). I don't think anyone would disagree with that. It helps with work productivity, income mobility, lower crime, better family planning, etc.

It is challenging, however, to effectively educate our incredibly diverse population. Nobody is ignoring the problem of uninvolved parents. It's just that no one knows how to fix it. Some are hardworking parents working two or three jobs to put a roof over their kids' heads in an honest way. But that means they aren't home to parent. Some don't care. Some are illiterate and can't help their kids with even the basics. Some have mental health or substance abuse problems. Some can't figure out how to feed their kids, so the idea of worrying about education comes a distant 2nd (or much lower). Some are disabled. Some are dead.

So as a matter of public policy, how do you deliver a meaningful, practical education to kids dealing with these home situations? You can't possibly fix them all. So the next place to look is what you "can" control, and that includes tthings like teacher salaries and performance, curricula, programs that provide nutritious meals, afterschool programs, basic health care clinics co-located with schools, free busing, etc.

ITA. We can't legislate "better parenting". There is no way to incentivize "better parenting". So where to focus? Simple - the educations system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was Michelle Rhee and her supporters who blamed teachers. Lots of us out here knew that the problem was bigger than the teachers so please don't paint us all with that overly broad brush.

And where is Michelle Rhee now?

http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/about-michelle-rhee

And guess what?

You no longer hear about her.

good riddance, I say!

Wow - it's all very American Dream-y to say that anyone can become anything at any time, isn't it? She was trying to shove it back down our throats. "One nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all..." Did she truly believe it?

Anonymous wrote:It was Michelle Rhee and her supporters who blamed teachers. Lots of us out here knew that the problem was bigger than the teachers so please don't paint us all with that overly broad brush.

And where is Michelle Rhee now?

http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/about-michelle-rhee

And guess what?

You no longer hear about her.

good riddance, I say!

It was Michelle Rhee and her supporters who blamed teachers. Lots of us out here knew that the problem was bigger than the teachers so please don't paint us all with that overly broad brush.

Uh, the problem is poverty - the poverty that the parents grew up in, the lack of education they had that makes them less able to be an at-home tutor. Really, when my daughter had an assignment to write about a Frida Kahlo painting in school, do you think her fellow students in public housing had parents who knew who Frida Kahlo was immediately and could help their kids with that like I did?

My husband and I know how those in power think, talk, and act, and we can teach our kid how to use that to further her own interests and to feel entitled to belong to those powerful groups. I didn't learn that because I was a virtuous person but because I grew up in a well-to-do White Anglo-Saxon Protestant household. Kids in poor households don't get those benefits from their parents - and it really has nothing to do with whether they are virtuous and hard-working or not.

So yes we need to stop pretending that the major problem is the teachers. The problem stems from family background but the answer is to develop more supports for poor families not to blame the parents for being poor.

Bah....it's not bad parenting, and it's not bad teachers....it's the FREAKING HEAVY METALS IN THE BRAINS OF OUR CHILDREN. How can we expect our children to learn or even act right when we've injected them with 3000 times the legal safe limit of aluminum and mercury?

I'm a parent of Neurotypical children who know how to behave and I'm also a parent to a special needs kid who cannot control his impulses and doesn't understand appropriate vs inappropriate behavior. What's the difference?.....neurotoxicity. I've heavy metal-tested my children. My SN kid has WAAAAAY more heavy-metal poisoning than my NT kids.

The reason is right in front of our faces, but to question our nations vaccine program is what is truly taboo....just look at the responses I get for posting this. VACCINES ARE BAD.....now I just wait for your flaming responses to prove my point.

Uh you just made bad parenting a race thing. White apologist, really?

It's not about blaming anyone. It's been long-held that an educated populace is the best thing for this country (for any country, really). I don't think anyone would disagree with that. It helps with work productivity, income mobility, lower crime, better family planning, etc.

It is challenging, however, to effectively educate our incredibly diverse population. Nobody is ignoring the problem of uninvolved parents. It's just that no one knows how to fix it. Some are hardworking parents working two or three jobs to put a roof over their kids' heads in an honest way. But that means they aren't home to parent. Some don't care. Some are illiterate and can't help their kids with even the basics. Some have mental health or substance abuse problems. Some can't figure out how to feed their kids, so the idea of worrying about education comes a distant 2nd (or much lower). Some are disabled. Some are dead.

So as a matter of public policy, how do you deliver a meaningful, practical education to kids dealing with these home situations? You can't possibly fix them all. So the next place to look is what you "can" control, and that includes tthings like teacher salaries and performance, curricula, programs that provide nutritious meals, afterschool programs, basic health care clinics co-located with schools, free busing, etc.

why do you think this is taboo? everyone knows this and it is hardly newsworthy. look at the HBO special on the Baltimore high school where 3 parents (out of 1,500?) showed up for PTA night or something ...

How About Better Parents?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: November 19, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-about-better-parents.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=friedman&st=nyt

In his NYT (our newspaper of record) column, Friedman reminds us all that good students come from good parents. But this subject is taboo- and it seems everyone is more apt to blame teachers for bad test scores. I have spent many years in the public schools, many years in private schools, and many years as a parent. I KNOW good parenting by and large makes good students. But why is it such a cultural taboo to say so? Are we being white apologists? Are we ignoring the real problem and blaming college educated, publicly funded teachers rather than the under-educated, under-funded underclasses? Is it easier to blame middle-income teachers and schools than to blame low-income parents? IS this why? Please, educate me.