My husband and I were discussing Georgia Senate Bill 10 today. This bill allows parents to use taxpayer dollars to send children to private schools. The bill states that the parent knows what is best for their child's education, therefore public funding should be used for this purpose.
As an educator it seems that this new law minimizes the professional judgment of teachers and school administrators.
Not only does it minimize pubic education opportunities, this law allows children to attend private schools where teachers may not have credentials that the NCLB act deems "Highly Qualified".
What does this say to educators? Parents need to be part of the public school process, not work against it. As public school educators, we really want parental support and parental involvement. How can we work toward this end if the state senate does not support us either?
Renni Wooden
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4 comments:
Hi Renni,
In my opinion lack of parental involvement in children’s education is a major critical issue is education. Parents have given many reasons for not being involved. Some refrain from getting involved because of their own lack of education, others the economic situation that forces both parents to work outside the home, and others are busy with social activities. In the majority of the cases parents are the best advocates children can have.
Simple actions at home, such as overseeing the child’s homework time; setting a daily time for homework to be done, checking the child’s work for completeness and understanding; limiting time spent with friends and watching television; and providing support for educators, essential leadership for programs and ideas for improvement in the educational system are some areas in which parental involvement would benefit greatly. When these activities are implemented the child will have an established plan to follow in relationship to his/her schoolwork.
We know that parental involvement in education is a critical link to higher grades, tests scores and more effective schools. In his article Gonzalez (2002) points out that when parents showed an interest in their children’s education, by actively being involved, students are more likely to seek challenging tasks, persist through academic challenges and experience satisfaction in their homework.
On a sadder note, we also know that any kind of parental involvement will decline as the child grows older. Still, this is no reason to underestimate the value of involvement in a child’s education throughout his/her entire school life. Labahn (2002) says “many secondary schools simply do not know how to deal with the nontraditional family; parents feel unwelcome at school and may not feel that education is important.” This can be changed by establishing school centers that can provide services for parents and the entire community, programs that offer training and enjoyable activities for parents, after school programs, and special programs and services for single parents.
The National Parent and Teacher Association declares that excellent schools are created by the dedication that teachers, principals, administrators and community members who are passionate about their students success. It is vital to create a positive and open two-way communication between parents and schools. It is a fact, that when a person feels appreciated when called on, he/she will become more involved. This principle applies to parental involvement in schools.
Michelle
References
Gonzalez, A.R. (2002). Parental Involvement Contributes to a Child’s Success in School.
LaBahn, J. (2002) Principal’s Electronic Desktop.
National Parent and Teacher Association (2003) Every child. One voice. http://www.pta.org/
Hello Renni,
You are absolutely correct -If we can't establish dialogue with our parents regarding their children's education, then our cause is lost. I do think that it is a travesty for public dollars to be used for privatization. As an educator, it is a "slap in the face."
However, what amazes me is that if these students that attend private education centers do not meet their expectations, they (private) have the liberty of releasing them - sending them directly back to the public school system; yet, they keep the funding.
This definitely sends a mixed message - we want all of "our" kids away from the mainstream, but if they begin to deviate from "our" way of how things of done, we can send them back and you (public schools) will educate them. This may be true and as an educator I am ok with the fact that we must educate all of our children, however, it sends a substandard message. Where do we begin to correct this issue?
Stephanie
Renni,
It would be nice if education was simply viewed as education. What if public and private education were all treated equally? Why is it that public education is held to a higher standard regarding certification, highly qualified, and so on, yet the privates schools are not? My feelings is that if this continues to be the case then public funds should not be used for private schools. However, if private schools are held to the same standards, and if private schools are open and available to all students, then maybe we have something to think about. I would like to know how your state is dealing with NCLB. Something just doesn't sound quite right.
Thanks for listening,
Jeanette
Thanks for your insightful comments. In our school system we try each year to involve parents more. This year our school's Parent University goes into local churches and conducts workshops that parents may be interested in. We are very community oriented and feel very fortunate that community leaders are trying to get on the bandwagon on the "Parent Issue" as well!
Renni Wooden
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