No-show parents could face jail time

[goldcatt]

I'm sure this woman is getting slammed in the press out there but I give her kudos for "thinking outside the box" The corrupt bureaucrats running Detroit schools have no interest in changing the status quo. Shame for those kids. Parents don't care. Schools don't care. Apparently one woman does. And she'll probably lose her job because of it.

For promoting jail time for parents who miss (or aren't notified of, or cannot attend) parent-teacher conferences? Yep, losing her job sounds about right.

There are limits to what's reasonable as far as government interference in parents' lives, especially in a "corrupt" system where the school doesn't care and in a city where those who have jobs to feed their families are damn lucky to keep them.

Communites don't rebound and educate their kids when their first knee jerk reaction is to blame the other "side" and go for blood using the police powers of the State, it takes a little cooperation. Maybe even flexibility. Perhaps even *gasp* communication and a minimum level of respect.

 

[Big Black Dog]

When I was in school, my mother and father often saw my teacher. Used to see the principal pretty often too. Then I stopped being a brat and they hardly ever talked after that.

 

[bodecea]

I can see parents who want their kid's education to be all up to the school district to be very much against this kind of thing.

 

[FLGoldilocks]

While I get the principle, I think the method is a little screwy. I am a single parent. I now have my boyfriend who helps me raise my children, but for years I worked and raised them entirely on my own. As a single parent, and with the economy already shaky when my kids entered school, time away from my job for a parent/teacher conference was a very difficult thing to manage. I was very fortunate in that my sons had teachers who were willing to come to school very early to meet with my before I had to be at work so that I wouldn't have to miss, or on the rare occasion, stay very, very late so I could take off as little time as possible.

Putting me in jail for 3 days because I couldn't make a conference would not have made me more likely to show. It would have cost me my job, therefore leaving my children hungry and potentially homeless if I couldn't find another job quickly enough. It would have made me angry and even less inclined to work with the school.

I do think parents need to be more involved in their children's education. Too many think it's all up to the teachers, and that's just not the case. It needs to be a joint effort between teachers, parents, and the child. All parties need to be putting forth an equal effort. And if there's need for it, one may need to put forth a little extra. A teacher may need to be willing to come in early or stay late, or even do the conference over the phone on a lunch break or in the evening, if the parent just absolutely can't make it otherwise. Parents need to go to their bosses and explain that they need to meet with a teacher and offer to stay late or come in early another day to make up the time lost.

Putting the parents in jail, however, is not the answer. It will only hurt them, financially and otherwise, and it will only cause them to be even less willing to work with the school system. And in the end, it's the child who will end up suffering the most from all of it.