Parents are the key to public education success

It’s time to stop playing the blame game with teachers for what’s wrong with education in this country. I’m the son of a teacher and the father of a teacher. Because I have children and served in the U.S. Marine Corps, I’ve seen and gotten to know teachers in almost every state I’ve lived in. Some teachers I’ve known, I consider dear friends.

I can no longer stand by and watch them being denigrated and maligned as leftist indoctrinators and anti-American conspirators determined to harm the children in their classes. Each of them love their country. They are patriots like my father, who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and who would pull out his uniform every Memorial and Veterans Day so that my siblings and I could get a refresher course in service and sacrifice. Or, they are like my daughter who wept when she saw the American cemetery in Normandy.

I have yet to meet one of them that has said to me, “I don’t care what the curriculum says, I’m going to teach my students about critical race theory,” or “My goal is to convince every one of my students that they are gay,” or “I can’t wait to get to school tomorrow so I can extoll the virtues of Marxism and communism.”

All the teachers I know want nothing more than to give their students the knowledge, skills and inspiration to be the doctors, engineers and scientists who will solve the problems we as a human race will face in the future or to be the musicians, authors and artists who will show us the beauty of God’s creations and humanity.

If teachers can’t be blamed for what’s wrong with education, then why not blame the politicians? In my opinion, politicians aren’t to be blamed either. They are just opportunists who prey on our laziness and desires to find quick fixes and scapegoats for our problems. Additionally, they really aren’t motivated to fix the problem; rather they just want to keep you riled up so they can get your vote and stay in power. That’s why they peddle myths and falsehoods.

If you really want to know what’s wrong with education in this country, it’s the parents. It’s the parents who refuse to accept the limitations or fallibility of their own children and the parents who are not engaged in their children’s education.

Teachers spend too much time of their day documenting everything and every minute of their day, so that they won’t be dragged into court or before the school board because a child is failing or unable or unwilling to learn. In those cases, maybe the child should be given an alternative method of education, freeing up teachers to actually teach, because the corollary of the phrase coined by politicians “No child left behind” is “No child gets ahead.”

Parents should be involved in their child’s education, and I’m not talking about going to school board meetings yelling, screaming and making threats. All that does is show your ignorance, that you can’t control yourself or make a coherent argument about an issue. No, parents need to be partners with their child’s teachers. They should make sure they know their child’s progress, weaknesses, strengths and stay cognizant of their child’s homework and projects.

If you don’t have the time, resources or desire to stay involved in your child’s education, do the responsible thing and don’t bring a child into this world just to ignore him or her and then blame others for their problems and failings.

So before you start blaming teachers for your child’s issues or failings, take a good hard look at your personal situation. You just might find the answer to your problem. With the help of your child’s teacher, you might also find a solution.