Laura Hirschfeld Hollis writes that the fundamental problem with the public school system is poor parents that pass on bad habits to their children. She says, “Don’t take my word for it. Ask a teacher.”
Public school teachers regularly blame the parents and media for their inability to teach some children. While there is some truth to this, mediocre teachers use parents and the media as an excuse for their own failings as a teacher. New and inexperienced teachers are also prone to do this. The more that these teachers “cry parent,” the less we believe it to be a problem.
More importantly, it creates a policy problem that Hollis cannot solve. She wants poor parents to be “held accountable for their children?s problems.” What kind of accountability measures would public schools have to enforce? No matter what form it would take, it would require a substantial increase in government power. She does not seem to mind this, but I would not want the government to police my parenting. One of the only freedoms that I have left is to make my child as neurotic as I am.
