Parents Are Held Hostage by Homework
In “Homework Helps Kids Make the Grade, and More” (Aug. 14), Kathleen O. Ryan quotes Nancy Paulu of the U.S. Department of Education as saying that a recent study showed conclusively that homework does help students.
What Paulu failed to mention in her quote, “Research bears out that students [who do homework] in the seventh grade and beyond score better on standardized tests,” was that the study she cited said that 15 minutes of homework every day for junior high school students and beyond improved a child’s grades. That 15 minutes should, and can, be done in school, not home. California law only allows government school authorities the power and authority over our children during lawful school hours.
Fact is, homework is one of the biggest frauds ever perpetuated on the parents of American schoolchildren. I have three children in school. I can’t plan a day because I never know what teachers are going to require our family to do when school is out. I am virtually a prisoner in my own home every day of the week, not to mention some weekends.
Our organization, Parents and Children’s Rights in the Public School, will soon be filing a class-action suit against the Glendora Unified School District for violation of education codes and California civil rights laws.
The question is simple. Do teachers have legal jurisdiction over parents and their children when school is out? If they do, where did they get that authority?
DAVID E. KOOYMAN
Covina
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
