Should parents be given a grade on their child’s report card to evaluate the job they’ve done supporting their child’s education? While in Florida over the weekend, I heard about a recent proposal by State Rep. Kelli Stargel. Teachers of students in pre-K through third grade would assess parents based on the quality of their involvement in their children’s education, and that “grade” (satisfactory, needs improvement, or unsatisfactory) would show up on the student’s report card.
Stargel says she’s interested in reforming the educational system, and schools and teachers can only do so much. It’s not about big government coming down on parents, she says. It’s about encouraging parents to fulfill their obligations.
Stargel, who has five children of her own, expects her HB 255 to be a topic of discussion and debate in Florida’s legislature over the course of the spring. The bill measures parent participation in factors like child tardiness and absenteeism, being well-rested and dressed properly for school, and completion of homework and test prep. It also grades parents for attending teacher conferences and PTA meetings.
While watching the television coverage and listening to parents and teachers being interviewed, I found wisdom on both sides. “Parental involvement is the most important aspect of education. Without it the child is doomed to failure,” said one. “We don’t need the government peering into our homes and judging us,” said another. “Just one more time-consuming task to add to the teacher’s load,” said still another. One teacher worried that parents wouldn’t open up to her if they were concerned about being evaluated. Another teacher was nervous that a young child would take to heart the unsatisfactory grade given to her parents as reflecting upon herself. I recall the words of Debbie Carona, genius kindergarten teacher: “I promise not to believe everything your child says about you, if you promise not to believe everything your child says about me.”
But the biggest issue is, frankly, that this bill is never going to pass. Like it or not, it has a snowball’s chance in hell. The question I’d like to ask myself is: if I received a “needs improvement,” and, let’s face it, all of us would at some point, would it make me mad enough to go stomping up to the school to complain or would it cause me to become introspective and apologetic and resolve to change? Ahhh, that’s the question.
