Education Depends on Parents’ Support

I am sick of hearing how America’s free public education system has failed the youth of today. When the recent CLAS test scores showed less than 25% of California’s students can read and write acceptably, everyone began to place blame. As always, the entire fault of low test scores was thrown in the laps of the teachers.

Excuse me, but when are the parents of this illiterate 75% of the student population going to accept their responsibility in educating their own children. A solid education is not based on skin color, parental marital status, family economics or even language. Indeed, education is more of an attitude established at home than an exercise performed in the classroom.

Do the parents of the 75% low achievers value learning? Did they prepare their preschool youngsters for the love of literature by reading to them daily? Did they set limits on television time in the home and establish age-appropriate work habits and personal routines of responsibility and accomplishment for their little ones?

Once enrolled in school do these 75% of the parents know the name of their child’s teacher? Did they take the time to attend the parent/teacher conference in the fall? Do they show an interest in the small, daily accomplishments of their child with verbal praise?

Teachers are not miracle workers. They have 30-40 students to direct, encourage and understand. It is their job to provide the opportunities and skills for an education, but the responsibility to see that this is accomplished is, and always should be, that of the parents. Children learn best when parents and teachers work together as partners, each supplying the necessary ingredients of expectation, natural consequence and achievement.

I call on parents everywhere to begin sharing the responsibility of educating their children; future test scores and the literacy rate of America’s youth are guaranteed to rise.

CINDY SUMAN

Santa Ana