Responsibility in Education

A few days before the election, I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper in response to comments by one of the local representatives to the state legislature. I was too subtle, though, questioning the words rather than endorsing a candidate. The letter was printed as a "guest opinion" the day after the election.

Twenty-some years ago at my high school orientation in South Carolina, the vice principal of the school had the gall to get up in front of the assembled incoming freshmen and tell us that it was not the school's responsibility to see that we got an education, but to see that we were socialized. Our education, he told us, was our parent's responsibility. I thought he was quite full of himself. I still think he was shirking. But I've also come to see that while the parents may enlist the help of others in preparing their children for adulthood, this does not relieve them of any responsibility themselves.

There's an interesting phrase about education I've seen several times lately, ". . . through Assessment (what is being learned), Accountability (who is not doing their job), and Reward (based on performance) . . ." Especially when combined with "Public policy should reinforce parental responsibility and authority."

Assessment, I can follow. Determine what a child has learned, to figure out what needs review and what he needs to learn next. Hopefully, also to find out what his aptitudes are, and let him develop his interests.

Reward is also straightforward, although not always as immediate as people would like. Those who teach well should keep their jobs and improve their salaries. Those who learn well should get good grades and grow up to do well later in life. Those who raise successful children should get children who'll help them in turn and who they have reason to be proud of.

Accountability goes hand in hand with responsibility -- it should mean holding people responsible for their actions or results. As far as education goes, the school personnel should be held responsible for providing the best opportunity to learn -- presenting material, maintaining an environment where it can be learned, and helping the child to learn it. The child should be held responsible for his learning or failure to learn. The parent should be held responsible for encouraging the child to learn, including providing the time and environment where the child can study outside of school and, if necessary, holding his nose to the grindstone.

So what public policies do we have that reinforce the parental responsibility to ensure their children take advantage of the opportunities to learn that are paid for by society? What authority is given to parents by a feud between the legislature and the teachers?

In modern educational politics "accountability" apparently means holding the school responsible for the whole shooting match. What a crock! Ignoring their own part and blaming those enlisted to help when children don't do well neither relieves the parents of their responsibility nor does it help the children. To do so as public policy is just stupid.

I am unhappy with the ending I gave this letter, by the way. Simply stating that disagreement with what you're saying is stupid, without showing that it is, isn't conducive to discussion. However, I don't think that was the reason that no one else wrote to dispute what I had said -- perhaps the people who would most dispute it are least likely to read the paper in the first place.