Parentally Challenged

This entry is the first of a series exploring solutions to the education crisis America faces.

What is our country's greatest resource? America is blessed with multitudinous natural riches, but history has shown that our people make us the greatest nation in the world. Our children, then, are our most important resource, as they determine the future of America's prosperity and success. It is time we focused squarely on this issue.

What sounds right and what is right are two very different things. Most of us would agree that a plan to send food to refugees of a civil war in Africa is a good idea, and it certainly sounds nice. But what if the food never reaches the refugees? What if the shipments are being intercepted and used as currency by the warlords to purchase more weapons and, ultimately, kill more people? What if the charity is actually part of the problem? Sadly, we know that this has happened on many occasions. It does not mean that sending food is a bad idea, it just means that it must be done wisely.

What does this have to do with education? Well, the next several entries discuss some very difficult topics and offer some very difficult solutions. Much of it may not sound good or fair, but I believe it is right for our country and its citizens.

Education spending has surged since the enactment of "No Child Left Behind." According to the Heritage Foundation, the bill is responsible for the 137% increase from 2001-2006. We are spending more on education than ever before, and we are achieving less. This is one of those cases where it sounds nice to say, "we need to spend more on education," but the reality is that spending does not equal results.

If we expect to see an improvement in our education program, the most important issue to address is that of parental involvement. The most powerful influence in a child's education is not at school, it's at home. Children whose parents are directly involved with their education do better in school and have a much greater chance at success in life.

What this means is that--no matter how much is spent on education and no matter how it is spent--without good parenting our children cannot succeed in school, and our country is doomed to fail along them.

One of my good friends and his wife are both teachers. While visiting with them recently, they both recounted several stories about the lack of parental involvement and how it impacts their students and schools. While this anecdotal evidence comes as no surprise considering the vast amounts of research that prove parental involvement is vital to a quality education, it is still shocking. Parents who were contacted because their children are failing classes are asked to come in and meet with the teachers. Many times, after scheduling a meeting, the parents do not show-up for it. What's worse, they do not call to say they are not coming or reschedule. They simply do not care enough.

Parents asked to spend a single hour helping their struggling children study on a weekend repeatedly fail to do so. It is no surprise that many children come to school not caring about their own education, because this attitude is merely a reflection of the atmosphere in their home.

It is preposterous to think that schools will do all the work of educating our children. Yet the same parents who do not show-up for meetings or help their children with their homework complain that "our schools are failing us" and often call superintendents and principals when their kids are held back or receive failing grades in their classes. They have enough energy to berate our teachers and educators but not the courage or strength to help their children succeed.

These people are wasting our most precious resource. Our children are being sacrificed by their own parents.

There is a solution. Many parents--and somewhat justifiably so--argue that they simply do not have time to help their children. While this is nothing more than an excuse, it is reflective of the fact that our government has made it very difficult for families to survive on a single income. Many of the problems facing America today are interconnected, and I will continue to discuss these connections throughout the blog. That said, there is nothing more important than our children, and we must put them first.

How do we force good parenting? How can we legislate parental involvement? It costs us billions and billions of wasted dollars in time, energy, and resources every year to try to save children from a poor education. I believe it is time we passed these costs directly onto those that are responsible for them. The next entry will discuss this concept.