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I think it's unfair to blame the parents, en masse. Of course there are some crappy parents. But in many cases, they are just yesterday's underserved children,

I think it's unfair to blame the parents, en masse. Of course there are some crappy parents. But in many cases, they are just yesterday's underserved children, born into a situation where the prospects of escape are extremely slim. The cycle thus continues to their children. If we actually care about today's children, we have to acknowledge the reality that not every parent is fully equipped to help their kids succeed and commit to trying to intervene this generation, to hopefully help many future generations of children. As a teacher in Baltimore, I met parents and guardians of just about every stripe you can imagine. Almost every one of them wanted the best for their kids. A lot of them lacked the savvy, wealth and social capital to navigate a better path for their kids.

peterwwillis 9y ago
I blame the parents, even when they aren't directly to blame, when they abuse teachers and administrators for not passing their obviously unqualified child. Parents don't seem to care if their child learns as much as whether they can leave the school system. Really though, the politicians are exacerbating the problems. Not only do they abandon communities in need, they cut education funding across the board, and then put price tags on the schools - pass students in my district or we cut the money even more. Meanwhile, they spend more on the military and kick the can down the road.
- acjohnson55 9y ago
  I never once had pressure from a parent of a failing student. The only time I was pressured by a parent was from one of my more well adjusted students. The "what can we do to make this B an A type thing". Most of the parents I had put a frightening amount of faith in me to open opportunities for their kid and trusted my judgment. I also went out of my way (as is typical in impoverished schools) to let them know as early as possible if their kid was falling behind. As the teacher, it's on you to figure out how to make time to try to coach kids back on track. It's unbelievably overwhelmed to try to do this for a couple dozen kids at a time, each with unique failure patterns to address. The pressure comes from administration, whose asses are on the line to have good looking metrics.

peterwwillis 9y ago

I blame the parents, even when they aren't directly to blame, when they abuse teachers and administrators for not passing their obviously unqualified child. Parents don't seem to care if their child learns as much as whether they can leave the school system. Really though, the politicians are exacerbating the problems. Not only do they abandon communities in need, they cut education funding across the board, and then put price tags on the schools - pass students in my district or we cut the money even more. Meanwhile, they spend more on the military and kick the can down the road.

acjohnson55 9y ago
I never once had pressure from a parent of a failing student. The only time I was pressured by a parent was from one of my more well adjusted students. The "what can we do to make this B an A type thing". Most of the parents I had put a frightening amount of faith in me to open opportunities for their kid and trusted my judgment. I also went out of my way (as is typical in impoverished schools) to let them know as early as possible if their kid was falling behind. As the teacher, it's on you to figure out how to make time to try to coach kids back on track. It's unbelievably overwhelmed to try to do this for a couple dozen kids at a time, each with unique failure patterns to address. The pressure comes from administration, whose asses are on the line to have good looking metrics.