5.3.5 Parental and Teacher Accountability


Another problem is that there is uncertain accountability. This uncertain accountability is for kids, parents, and teachers. Now in Virginia, the state legislature got fed up with the fact that parents are not supporting schools so they passed a law. Parents have to sign a responsibility statement and if they don't sign it they're fined $50. And then if
they don't cooperate with the school, they're fined $500! I'm not quite sure where welfare mothers are going to get the money if they have the fine but nonetheless, that's the system and that's mandated by the state. I'm very much in favor of the sentiment, namely that parents should be more responsible for their kids and have more accountability for their kids. I'm not sure that a $50 fine is the right answer to that problem. I think we need to have a lot of education that goes into that. Schools, parents, and community need to do a lot to learn how to work together. The point is that there isn't much accountability. If parents let their kids go wild there isn't much the schools can do about it. Certainly if parents don't give support to their kids for homework there isn't a lot that schools can do about it. Now I guess they can fine them $500. We'll see how that plays out. I think that the main benefit to that, if there is a
benefit, is that it will heighten everyone's awareness and get people to cooperate. I don't think that the system of fines is going to work very well, but I could be wrong. Here is one case where I hope I am wrong. I hope that the result of this is that there is a lot more accountability of parents for their kids.

You have equally uncertain accountability for teachers. If a teacher does an absolutely outstanding job the teacher goes up one notch on the salary schedule. If the teacher does an absolutely terrible job, the teacher goes up one notch on the salary schedule. Isn't that wonderful accountability. That's just the system. That's the way it is. And we've
become so used to it that we don't even see that there are alternatives. One of the reasons that we're talking about this approach to the schools today is because I'm hoping that rather than having the blinders of assuming that everything that we now do is the way it should be done and we're just trying to improve this very narrow, blind kind of
education. I'm trying to help you see a much more complete range of alternatives out there because you as the next generation of professionals need to be supportive of these alternatives, at least aware of them, and be able to consider them in ways that institutions have not considered them before. It's a pretty important, significant issue. I'm not just trying to be a smart aleck by saying that the schools are not ideal. It's a very serious point and I hope I make the case well enough that you at least consider the ways these issues ought to be changed.

You have uncertain accountability for kids as well. It's not because of any villains out there. If a kid has been held back twice in a grade, it doesn't do much good to hold the kid back the third time. On the other hand the kid has not learned. What do you do? Typically what is done is the kid is pushed into the next grade level where he is even further behind than he was before with even less chance of catching up. Then you have the same problem at each successive level so he continues to be pushed on. Until we develop some substantial alternatives we will continue to push the kids on. Not because we don't understand the problem but because the society doesn't provide us with the resources for adequate alternatives.

What three areas need to work together and be accountable to the
schools?
Mrs. Brown teaches a high school mathematics class that requires constant review and practice of the methods taught for successful completion of the course. A student in her class that is very smart but lazy, Joe, does not complete homework assignments and lately has not attended class often. When Mrs. Brown confronts Joe's parents about this problem, they say that there is nothing they can do about the homework. Joe gets a new car for his seventeenth birthday and really has free reign around his house to do what he wants. How can Mrs. Brown get this high-school senior to do his work?