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More Accountability From Under-Performing Parents
From Issue: Volume XX - Number 17
8/24/2012
By Taylor Ramsey
It was pointed out this past June that for high school graduations in California only about 70% of the students who entered high school as freshmen were graduating. This leaves about 30% of our students and parents who don’t care what goes on in the school system. Administrators and teachers blame it on the lack of funds. Parents blame administrators, teachers and funding.
My children had excellent and caring principals and instructors in the LBUSD system and they were bused to “inner-city” schools. As a parent, I did not really see a difference in spending at our local school versus the school where they were bused. Of course, more money and hours of labor may be given to a school in an area with higher income levels as parents in that area may have more time and money to donate.
There may be a few “bad” teachers and administrators, but in general I would bet most school districts have people who care and do their best to educate our students with the resources they have. The extremely high dropout rates do not lie with the school staff or funding. It is the result of poor parenting.
We chose to be very involved with our children’s education and activities and I believe that led to them doing well. If our children dropped out of high school it would not have been because of the school system or funding, it would be because we as parents failed our children. The school provided the opportunity and if our children performed below standards in a class or on a project, it was my child’s fault and it was my fault as a parent. If my child did not show up for school, again, it was our fault and had nothing to do with the school district.
I believe the one common cause for all non-performing students is a lack of support at home. How else can you explain that even in the lower income neighborhood schools there are many students who perform tremendously well and in high income schools there are students who perform poorly?
I have observed students who do well even when their wonderful parents possessed almost no English skills. They performed well because their parents demanded it and supported their efforts to achieve. Involved parents create good students no matter their race, family income, school or which neighborhood they live in.
We must accept responsibility for taking advantage of all of the opportunities our schools and the community provide us. It is the parent’s and student’s job to take advantage of the opportunity presented us in our schools … not blame someone else.
Students need a parent who is involved, demands hard work and expects high achievement. We need greater accountability for under-performing parents.
taylor@longbeachcomber.com
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