Homework often gets sent home because parents expect it, not because teachers think it's useful. My wife has tried not assigning any homework at all, or assign

Homework often gets sent home because parents expect it, not because teachers think it's useful. My wife has tried not assigning any homework at all, or assigning open-ended homework (e.g. read any book you like for at least half an hour). The complaints from parents were overwhelming, and now she's back to assigning busy-work that she feels is useless for anything but keeping parents happy.