Thank you. I'm glad to see there's someone on FR who understands!
I have to agree with this. When I was young, it didn't matter WHAT the teacher said, the teacher was always right! As I got older, may parents loosened up a little bit and watched and listened carefully what the teachers said and did, but for the most part, the rule still held. If I complained about a teacher, they'd check it out with other parents who had kids and make a judgement based on that info, usually in the TEACHER'S favor. But I would never have even CONSIDERED cheating or lifting whole segments of text from a book. You don't need to do that if you put any thought into the subject. You can use footnotes or paraphrase using your own words and ideas. But that's the problem, the kids wanted the reward (the grade) without having to work for it!
I noticed as my kids got older that most parents immediately took the kid's part in a dispute with a teacher, and did so in front of the kids and started talking the teacher down. This ruined any respect the kids had for the teacher, and made the classroom a place of contention, not learning. My older boys had only one teacher who was really a BAD teacher, and when the parents got REAL evidence of it, she ended up leaving and becoming a vice-principal at a different school. At least she wasn't teaching anyone.
But we parents have to look at what we've been doing. If our kids are in school, we have to look at the message we're sending our kids vis a vis the teachers. If you are fortunate and can stay home (usually Moms) give homeschooling a try! And Dads can do some of the teaching, too. There's no rule in h/sing that says the learning has to stop at 3 in the afternoon, or start at 8 am for that matter. Some days its tough because the kids would rather do anything else than 'schoolwork', but some days it is great fun as you watch your kids in the process of learning something new.