One Issue With Education – Parents

This post was originally published on November 5, 2016
The latest update to this post was made 7 years ago.

One Issue With Education – Parents 

Education is in a state of chaos. Students and parents are running the class, not the teacher. My own classroom was ran by parents that complained when their kids didn’t get an A. In real education, not everyone gets an A. Teachers had to “dummy” the content down so everyone could pass. We had to let students turn in assignments late. We even had to let them take and re-take tests until they pass.

All school districts partake in these “strategies” to help students. Schools also do these to make the parents not complain. If a parent complains the entire school comes to a halt. Most principals will bend over backwards to appease a disgruntled parent. I had only ONE principal take up for me. A student turned in an assignment two weeks late and I took off the accepted points for being late. This made the child receive a B. The parent was mad. So mad that they flooded my email and voice mail with nasty messages. But, I had to be professional and explain to them that the assignment was late.

The parent insisted on meeting with me and the principal to discuss the grade. The parent felt I was attacking their child. The assignment was late because of the parent’s work schedule and this was not the child’s problem, but I was making it the child’s problem. Seriously? I was speechless. My principal let the parent know that it was a school policy to take points off for late assignments. The parent raised their voice and yelled it wasn’t fair and that they took time from their night to help complete the assignment.

The parent then went on to let us know that they wrote a perfect paper and even drew a fantastic graphic. My principal then let the parent know that the grade would be changed, to a zero. They expected the child to do their own work and turn it in. I smiled and explained that said child could complete the assignment after school in my class where I would be happy to be available if they needed help. Did I mention that this was a gifted and talented (GT) student in middle school?

This was one of the only times I can remember where my principal took my side. There were other times almost like this where I was just asked to change the grade. What did it matter? Parents, the next time you speak to your child’s teacher, remember this story and also remember that teachers are there to HELP students. Support your teachers.

Tags: #education #parent #parents #students #school #parenting