Posted on 12/13/2010 10:57:25 AM PST by Academiadotorg
The Associated Press might actually be onto something in its education coverage. “An Associated Press-Stanford University Poll on education found that 68 percent of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what’s wrong with the U.S. education system — more than teachers, school administrators, the government or teachers unions,” Donna Gordon Blankenship wrote in an AP story that went out on December 12, 2010. “Only 35 percent of those surveyed agreed that teachers deserve a great deal or a lot of the blame.”
“Moms were more likely than dads — 72 percent versus 61 percent — to say parents are at fault. Conservatives were more likely than moderates or liberals to blame parents. Those who said parents are to blame were more likely to cite a lack of student discipline and low expectations for students as serious problems in schools. They were also more likely to see fighting and low test scores as big problems.”
The parents surveyed went on to show why they make such terrific enablers. “Most said education in their local public schools is excellent or good, but 67 percent also believe the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to education,” Blankeship reported. “But a majority of parents see improvement in the system since they were in school: 55 percent believe their children are getting a better education than they did, and three-quarters rate the quality of education at their child’s school as excellent or good. Most say their child’s school is doing a good job preparing students for college, the work force and life as an adult.”
The parents should survey themselves to see why high school graduates a half-century ago know more than college students do now.
Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.
If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail mal.kline@academia.org
Actually, the polling would seem to indicate the battle for the schools was lost beginning with this generation of parents. Obviously they don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Unions are responsible for watering down the content of education to the point of being useless in the pursuit of productive work.
Liberal political agendas are substituted for fact based education.
There’s not much the average parent can do about that!
The most disruptive students are kept in class for fear of missing out on Federal matching dollars to have his butt in a seat. Not to mention the unwillingness to teach the concept of consequences, or right and wrong.
I have little first hand experience in matters of public education since the the sprouts came of age all those years ago.
AP courses then sometimes made Ms C. and I refer back to some college text or the other. With the grands now involved in the same courses and we the almost senile find ourselves bored by the slack course material being covered. After AP Calculus it seems unlikely that grand either could determine the length of the toilet paper on a roll if they were in a warehouse with three hundred foot long steel tape.
After seeing the parents moving through malls, parks, the beach, the restaurants and other public place with their children, what can be expected of such rabble when placed in a room with twenty five or thirty more like them. Complete and utter incompetence when it comes to child rearing. This isn’t a racial thing, the black and Hispanics seem to be more successful than the anglos from what I have seen.
Chaos, perhaps mediocrity, little more than touchie feelie discipline can be maintained. Otherwise little Celwyn and Verdant Bloom will feel unwanted and less worthy.
What chance would a teacher, principal, superintendent, or school board have of making any difference in the classroom behavior or the measured educational outcomes.
Caddis the Elder
“But a majority of parents see improvement in the system since they were in school: 55 percent believe their children are getting a better education than they did, and three-quarters rate the quality of education at their child’s school as excellent or good.”
This shows ONE thing more than anything else.
A high percentage of parents think far too highly of the education their children are getting, rating their public schools much higher than the comparative standings of their schools with other nations show they actually deserve. This disconnect demonstrates that a high percentage of parents are uneducated about their own childrens education.
Along with the survey, ask each parent how many times they have actually gone in the front door of the , not to attend an Elf pageant or play, but to actually meet teachers and talk to administrators. That is the number that will be shocking.
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