One Hand Clapping Excellent blog out of Tennessee.
Recent post:
Tennessee legislators want to start draft slavery
by Donald Sensing @ 2:00 pm. Filed under Domestic affairs, State & LocalA draft to be initiated in Tennessee? Maybe, but not for the military. Two state legislators want to draft parents:
A proposal making its way through the General Assembly would require parents with children in kindergarten through grade 4 to ‘’volunteer’’ at least 12 hours a year. And they couldn’t just show up — they’d be expected to get involved in the teaching process by tutoring, chaperoning lesson-related field trips or helping students play educational games.
This is such an incredibly stupid idea I hardly know where to begin. And yes, I characterize it as a “draft” because that’s exactly what it is, compulsory government service.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, and Rep. Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis. What a surprise. Ford has, shall we say, issues of a fairly severe nature.
Unlike military draftees, though, the bill makes no provision for payment of the drafted parents. I think the word for that is “slavery.”
When my kids were in nursery school, the (private) school, like many others, required volunteer parents to spend a few days in class during the year and help out. It was a great way to learn about how our kids interacted with others, to meet other kids, make new friends, discover how the teachers worked, and notice how competent the teachers were.
This type of nursery school pretty much died out as mothers all want to work (so that it became tough for either parent to make time).
The volunteer school involvement that Tennessee is calling for is probably impractical, but it is a GREAT idea, with all the advantages I listed above. In addiiton, it will give the teachers a chance to see kid’s parents in action, which will help them understand the kids’ problems.
Given the woeful quality of American public education, I really like this idea. It’s not the same as a draft unless the parents routinely get shot at. It’s more like requiring driver education to be allowed to drive.
I’m the parent of a young child and I have a hard time getting worked up about this one. It seems like a good idea as long as it’s not implemented as “slavery!”
(“slavery”?!?! for 12 hours a year? Serious hyperbole.)
Precision Blogger
I totally disagree. Making something compulsorily is the exact opposite of volunteering. I think they are called antonyms.
When parents volunteer for their children’s school that is great. Especially when they have something to contribute. My feeling though is that the Tennessee legislature is actually foisting its duties off onto the parents more and more. Instead of teaching children to learn today, increasingly schools are teaching to pass a test. And if it ain’t on the test then it ain’t taught.
Then it seems that with each year, the parents are expected to become more involved in the teaching. It is one thing to help a child with homework problems, but the actual teaching belongs in the schools with QUALIFIED teachers.
And teachers. Why oh why can they not be paid what they are worth? We increase their workload, give them more students, pressure them to achieve better results, and reduce their teaching supplies. Younger teachers too often live in fear of cutbacks. Older teachers are burned out.
At the same time, students are being hit with more and more homework. I have talked to kids in grades 5 and 6 that regularly have 2 hours or more of homework. If the student doesn’t have enough time in school to learn the curriculum then there is something wrong with the curriculum. 10 yr olds should not be stuck inside doing schoolwork all day. 10 yr olds should be enjoying the fleeting childhood while they can.
Don’t get me wrong. I strongly believe in good education. I don’t believe in skimping on it. I don’t believe that we should deny teachers or students the opportunities to learn. During my formative years, my favorite teachers were always the ones taking an interest, encouraging, feeding curiosity, and often going around the curriculum. And I think we were wiser and better for it.
I volunteer often for my daughter’s school, the library, and her athletics. I do what I can, when I can.