Which is it – another case of the role of government

If you want the Executive Sumary for this post, try this:

"I’d be ticked," Madore said. "They’re telling you what to do with your kid."

No, not the teachers – the School Board. I still cannot believe the chutzpah! 

My outlook is that government functions for the people and not the other way around.  Lincoln had it right in his Gettysburg address "…government of the people, by the people, for the people…"  Too often, we find ourselves in the situation where we, the people, end up having to fight our government because there are those in government believe they know better than we and wish us to behave the way they wish us to (and mostly, Democratic Liberals).  This is a real basic reason to change the law to yank the ability to change tax policy away from politicians (think FairTax).

They have forgotten that they, elected and appointed officials and all they that make government work, should all serve at the pleasure of the taxpayers and citizens.

Instead, we get this (bold emphasis is mine):

Parents in Connecticut might be the ones getting the report cards if a proposed plan makes the grade at a Manchester public school district.

Steven Edwards, a Republican member of the Manchester (CT) Board of Education who’s up for re-election Nov. 6, wants parents to be evaluated on a handful of what he says are objective measures — including whether their children have done the homework and eaten a good breakfast.

"I tried to design something modest [measuring] things that virtually everybody would agree parents should do to help their kids," Edwards said. "We don’t have our staff making any subjective evaluations."

The idea has angered parents, and the local PTA vows to fight the plan.

"People are going to be extremely offended by it," said Jackie Madore, president of the Manchester Parent Teacher Association Town Council. "I don’t feel the report cards on parental skills is the way to go. … It’s going to be the parents against the Board of Education, basically."

I’d be ticked too!  We get this (and this) about 11 year olds and birth control in Portland, ME, I continued to see the slow march towards government over the people.

Now, both Doug and I have been rough on the Republicans here in NH for not acting like Republicans of yore and adhering to our core ideals of low taxes (letting people keep more of their hard earned money) and smaller government (larger government generally means a diminishing degree of freedom).

Yet, here’s this "Republican" advocating that government not only not serve the people, but it has the authority to not just grade the kids, but the parents as well.  Where does he get the idea that schools have the liberty or the authority to do this? 

Yet, here’s this "Republican" advocating that government not only not serve the people, but it has the authority to not just grade the kids, but the parents as well.  Where does he get the idea that schools have the liberty or the authority to do this? 

 

Edwards says parents aren’t properly preparing their kids for school. He’s proposed evaluations on whether parents get their children to class on time, ensure their kids have completed their homework each night and attend the twice-yearly parent-teacher conferences about the children’s report cards and academic progress.

The other two categories — which Edwards admitted are more a matter of interpretation — would give parents a positive or negative grade depending on whether their children seem to have been fed an adequate breakfast and are appropriately dressed for the weather.

Look, I realize that the prime indicator of a child’s success in school is not the $/student that is spent, or the high tech gizmos that are used (or not), or the strength of the teachers’ union, but the involvement of the parents.  Slacker parents are not helpful (and having owned a private day care, I know of which I speak).  There were times that I just wanted to scream at some of them (like the parents that sent their kids in with sugar cookies for breakfast!!!).  The difference is that I could just tell them that I no longer wanted their business.

Anyways, THIS "bright idea" is a prime example of the "bright ideas" that I am so un-enamored of (doubleplusungood)!  Like it or not, unless there is actual abuse (and let’s not start on defining that downward here), it is  not the purview of public school officials, elected or otherwise, to be grading parents. 

The answer to this guy?  If a conservative is running against this guy, let me know and I’ll send a donation.  Primary this boob out if possible, yank his butt in the general election.  I know that most of the time I try to write on a "higher plane", but this tomfoolery has earned all the scorn that can be mustered.

Edwards said he’d like to see teachers and school administrators give the parents a pass or fail check — not in a printed report card like their children get, but during the biannual parent-teacher conferences.

 

You know, if there was ever a reason for pulling your kids out of the government monopoly, this would be it on the sheer grounds of overstepping the role of government.

 

 

"To sit down in November and in March for 15 or 20 minutes with your child’s teacher isn’t enough," said Madore, who has a daughter in fifth grade and two sons in high school. "You need more teachers, administrators and Board of Education members reaching out to parents."

She said the draft she’s seen of the policy had parents receiving scores in each of the categories, not just checkmarks.

The Connecticut board of education hasn’t taken an official position on the subject, and ultimately such decisions are up to local school officials. But the head of policy services at the state level said he’d like to see energies focused elsewhere.

“The issue of grading parents is very difficult,” said Vincent Mustaro of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE). “I would rather see local boards of education work with parents in terms of what their role is and assisting their child rather than grading them. I don’t know what that achieves.”

 

 

IMHO, I believe, a polite way of saying "what a jerky idea!  THIS will not win government education any points".

 

 

The Manchester school district is also against the idea.

"The way Mr. Edwards has presented it, I’m opposed to it," said Manchester superintendent Kathleen Ouellette. "There are other types of assessments at schools that are not as intrusive. There’s a lot we already do, anyway. This can be very intimidating and will probably anger some parents if it’s not administered in a sensitive way."

 

 

Not intimidating….try RUDE and OVERBEARING and OUT OF LINE!  Actually, this may not be all that intimidating.  In fact, it may make some of the PARENT intimidating!  Remember:  mother bear, bear cubs.  Insulting Mom doesn’t make for a great day. 

 

 

Ouellette said she’d rather see a more positive parental outreach approach, one that doesn’t alienate already over-stressed mothers and fathers.

Manchester isn’t the first school district to consider issuing report cards to parents. Chicago tried it — and failed. So did a district in Lebanon, Pa., which wound up broadening the concept into a larger program to get parents more involved.

Edwards, who has been talking about implementing the reverse report cards for the past year, said his policy isn’t nearly as far-reaching as Chicago’s — which graded moms and dads on things like how much quality time they spent with their children. His plan, he said, aims to help parents who need it the most.

 

 

Ugh!  And how did Chicago do this – have the kids spy on their parents? 

 

 

"This becomes a way of identifying who needs extra help and using resources to reach out to these parents," he said. "It’s not meant to be punitive in any way."

Edwards, who’s running for a third term on the board, denied that he’s pushing grading parents as an election-year issue to win votes. Feedback, he added, has been across the spectrum, with principals and parents generally opposed and teachers mostly in favor.

 

 

I’ll go out there on a limb….teachers would be – after all, they have to deal with the ramifications of bad parents.   Yet I repeat, it is not the role of government to proactively go in, as a matter of policy, and tell parents how to parent.  If the parents ask for it, by all means, help them!  Get them the information and techniques they may need.

But it has to be at the request of the parents and not the other way around. 

 

 

"I’d be ticked," Madore said. "They’re telling you what to do with your kid."

 

(H/T: Lucianne.com)