Account-Ability

This entry continues the series exploring solutions to the education crisis.

A professor studying education methods visited a school in a southwest Los Angeles district. In one of the classrooms, a teacher worked with all but two of her students, who sat in the back of the classroom with their desks facing the wall. The two boys were talking to one another, completely disinterested with what was going on around them.

The professor asked the teacher about the two boys. She replied, "We made a deal. I let them do whatever they want in the back of the classroom as long as they don't disrupt the rest of the class." Dumbfounded, the professor pressed the teacher about her decision to give-up on two of her students. She went on to explain that, while she hated the idea of ignoring two young men in need of an education, they had been so disruptive that the choice was either to separate them from the rest of the group or sacrifice the needs of the entire class. "I don't have a choice," she said. "I hate that this how it has to be, but there's nothing else I can do."

This is a true story. Disruptive students can dominant and destroy a classroom atmosphere, and current laws give teachers little, if any, power to deal with these children. The idea is that the school system should be good enough to "fix" these kids and convince them that an education is in their best interest. The trouble is, if a teacher chooses to spend his or her time and energy trying to save these children, it is at the expense of the rest of the class.

For the most part, teachers are hard-working, committed individuals. They have to be. They have one of the most difficult--if not the most difficult--jobs in our society, and they receive very little compensation. They are willing to go the extra mile to help students and parents get the best education possible.

But they can do nothing for a child who is convinced that school is not important.

This attitude is partly cultural, but it comes from the home. Parents who take no direct interest in their children's education are the cause of this problem, and they must be held accountable for the solution.

In order for our children to effectively learn, they must have a quality learning environment. Unfortunately, it is very easy to disrupt this environment and throw it into chaos, and teachers have little authority to prevent this. Children who are not taught respect at home will not respect their teachers, and this takes valuable resources away from the rest of the class and the teacher.

I submit that parents of children who are failing classes--either for grades or for having a destructive influence on the classroom atmosphere--should be fined. And I'm not talking about a bill in the mail or a ticket on a windshield, I'm talking about garnishing wages or other income. If a child is a failing a class or causing other children to fail, then that child's parent is failing at home and stealing from taxpayers, children, and the country the precious gift of an education. I am simply proposing that these parents refund some of the resources they cost the rest of us.

The fact is that teachers go out of their way to make sure students pass their classes. The difficulty level of curriculum is at an all-time low, and yet failure rates are still extremely high. In a properly-functioning education system, classes should get more difficult every year and each generation should be smarter than the previous one.

I will admit, fining people sounds extreme. But is it? Parents who neglect to spend even an hour or two with their children each week helping with homework, reviewing exams, or explaining the importance of education are costing the rest of the country billions of dollars and immeasurable value in wasted young minds.

"I don't have time," is sure to be an excuse from many of these parents. This is ridiculous. Turn off American Idol. Wake-up from the nap. Get off of the internet. If a parent does not have enough time or energy to invest a few minutes everyday in their child's future, that parent ought to pay a little extra so someone else can try to save our nation's children from illiteracy. Teachers go out of their way to help students, talk with parents, and maintain order in the classroom. We cannot allow reckless parenting to sap our precious education resources and sabotage our children's future.

I am certain this policy would help turn around our schools. It helps give teachers some leverage in the classroom. It forces parents to take an interest in their child's education, or to pay the schools enough to put their child in a special needs class so as to allow the other students an opportunity for a quality education. And it makes a clear statement that our children are more important than anything else--including our paychecks. It is sad that it has come to this point, but it is time to make a change.

Better education will not come from a politician's new plan. Instead of voting for a candidate to fix the system, it is time for Americans to take responsibility for the problem. Bad parenting costs the rest of us. It is time to recognize that government cannot solve the problem. It is time to hold ourselves accountable. It is time we lived our vote.