tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post6642498428597858893..comments2023-12-29T15:25:46.925-05:00Comments on "THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE MY TINY WINDOW": Post No. 96: Should Government Get Out of the Business of Education?Inspector Clouseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-55888641164289290252011-05-21T02:51:42.459-04:002011-05-21T02:51:42.459-04:00I think there is a place in American society for a...I think there is a place in American society for all types of education (public, private, home, etc.). however, I believe failures in any education system are rooted in parent's lack of involvement or misguided priorities. For example, there are plenty of families who drop their kids off at school at 7:30am and pick them up at 6:00 at night. Thats a lot of time away from home for a youngster. These families would argue that they have no choice because they can't afford an alternative, but these families often have two new cars, a giant home, expensive vacations, a sickening amount of expensive electronics and other material goods.<br><br>In summary, we cannot fix our education system without first fixing ourselves. If American's really value education, they will sacrifice anything (including material goods) to ensure the best education for their children. This could mean becoming more involved in the public schools, budgeting for a private school, or forgoing one parent's salary to home school. If this attitude shift doesn't occur in American culture, free enterprise education will fail just as miserably as public education.ginachttp://spottybanana.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-14177108457594098492011-05-21T02:51:41.367-04:002011-05-21T02:51:41.367-04:00Thanks are extended to everyone for carrying this ...Thanks are extended to everyone for carrying this discussion. We really enjoyed the back and forth. We consciously tried to stay in the background and let you frame the issues, and you did a great job.The Logisticianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-8345443769312407132009-04-10T10:41:00.000-04:002009-04-10T10:41:00.000-04:00As we type this, C-Span is airing a panel presenta...As we type this, C-Span is airing a panel presentation on the funding of public education. It is sponsored by the Thomas Fordham Institute, and the discussion focuses on budget cuts and education reform.<BR/><BR/>http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=285202-1Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-70129884566995195442009-03-27T16:02:00.000-04:002009-03-27T16:02:00.000-04:00The recently departed National Security head once ...The recently departed National Security head once said that there is a problem with large organizations and their bureaucracies. As they get bigger and bigger, they become more focused on their survival and continuing their existence, rather than pursuing the original purpose or goals of the organization. <BR/><BR/>Maybe parents need to re-take control of the educational process. <BR/><BR/>I am still amazed at some statistics which I saw on one of William F. Buckley's last shows about home schooling. According to the presentation, children who are home schooled apparently have much better "empirical" results. I am aware of the argument about social skill inadequacy and lack of involvement in school organizations. However, the other stats are impressive.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps it is because parents relinquished control of the education of their kids to others than the system has deteriorated. An educational abdication of responsibility.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-34062000959083548342009-03-27T00:06:00.000-04:002009-03-27T00:06:00.000-04:00Thanks are extended to everyone for carrying this ...Thanks are extended to everyone for carrying this discussion. We really enjoyed the back and forth. We consciously tried to stay in the background and let you frame the issues, and you did a great job.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-47894538897283674802009-03-27T00:03:00.000-04:002009-03-27T00:03:00.000-04:00We think that a tad too much attention is being pa...We think that a tad too much attention is being paid to the educational system and those individuals who function within it. During his workshops, the Logistician frequently reminds us that "people change when they are sufficiently motivated to change."<BR/><BR/>Education has to be viewed in the broader context / society in terms of whether the student really feels that it is worth his or her time and effort to pursue education. For many, they do not see the benefit of doing so. They are disillusioned. They look around their neighborhoods and see virtually nothing of promise, and thus they become less than motivated. Imagine some kid growing up in rural North Carolina, in tobacco country, seeing that business decimated for various reasons. <BR/><BR/>We are not suggesting that this is a good state of mind; however, it is reality.<BR/><BR/>In a competitive environment, if a student looks around and recognizes that his or her prospects of excelling, or simply getting a fundamental education, are very slim, we seriously doubt that they will be motivated.<BR/><BR/>There is also the reality that someone can pursue a particular type of education, and then find out that there are not many jobs available. In a country where people are free to pursue any type of educational pursuit they might so desire, it is a little difficult to later complain about the lack of available jobs in that chosen area.<BR/><BR/>When the government becomes involved, it only adds to the complexity of managing this whole education thing. <BR/><BR/>Not everyone comes to the table with the same set of skills and capabilities. Not everyone comes to the table with the same resources, and home situation. There are dramatic differences between different geographic areas.<BR/><BR/>We often forget that we are a very big country with diverse values and resources. Managing all of this is extremely complex. Perhaps the best folks to decide how to handle this issue are at a local level, or perhaps even smaller, at the neighborhood level. Arguably, once the government gets involved, it tries to apply a uniform approach to a larger area. That's inherently difficult to do. <BR/><BR/>There is another reality. There is a segment of our society which does not like educated people. We do not uniformly share a common value with respect to the value of education.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-83698557522574712662009-03-26T21:17:00.000-04:002009-03-26T21:17:00.000-04:00What are your alternatives? Do you have any?Sure. ...<EM>What are your alternatives? Do you have any?</EM><BR/><BR/>Sure. Instead of putting federal money into alternative schools, I would put it--only where needed--into the public schools. I would recognize the extreme importance of primary education by making the salary scales of public school teachers comparable to the salaries college faculty. I would provide federal subsidies to make that possible, where necessary. My impulse would be to eliminate degrees in education as the sole qualifier for teaching in public schools, except in the case of various kinds of "special ed." If a scholar with a Masters or Ph.D. in history is willing to teach middle-school or high school history, I would consider his degree to qualify him. I would make the Ph.D., rather than the B.A. and the Masters degrees the standard for promotion, in order to justify the increased salary scale. In short, I would recognize the extreme value of the excellent start in the education life of the child and prioritize the development and recruitment of educators qualified to meet that need. I think that there are many people who would like to teach children who don't do so because of the relatively skimpy salaries. University faculty don't unionize because they don't need to do so to get the salaries and security that they feel they deserve. I would put public school teachers in the same position.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-14943907372365027962009-03-26T19:58:00.000-04:002009-03-26T19:58:00.000-04:00The argument I was making refers only to those who...<I>The argument I was making refers only to those who pay local taxes AND want to send their child to the alternative school. If they are wealthy, they don't need the voucher. If they need the voucher, they can't afford the double-dip--or it will be, at the very least, an unwanted burden.</I><BR/><BR/>That's right, they cannot afford the double dip. That is the purpose of the voucher, it is a refund of a portion of the taxes. Each child is a "head" that is counted within each school district and the district is allocated a specific amount of money per "head". Since those "heads" who go to a private school will not be there, the money does not need to be given to the district. Instead, the voucher system allocates that money to parent who then decides how that money should be spent to educate his/her child. If the parent chooses not to exercise that voucher but to utilize the public school then the money would go to that school. Where is the unfairness in that?<BR/><BR/>There is already a huge bureaucracy now, it can take on the voucher process. We have a voucher system in Florida. No new bureaucracy, it is handled by the Department of Education.<BR/><BR/>Finally, it is not my responsibility to prove a negative. It is not possible to do so in any event. It is your responsibility to prove the positive, to prove that something you predict <B>will</B> happen. You are opposed to change because you fear the possible results. Yet you admit that there are are significant problems which are not being successfully addressed. What are your alternatives? Do you have any?Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-9595748213480126822009-03-26T11:56:00.000-04:002009-03-26T11:56:00.000-04:00It's a specious argument.I don't think you heard t...<EM>It's a specious argument.</EM><BR/><BR/>I don't think you heard the argument. The argument was that those commonly most in need of alternatives to public education are usually also those least able to simultaneously support two, competing, school systems. (People who now vote against school millage issues because they have no children in school should be ashamed of themselves for so doing.) <BR/>The argument I was making refers only to those who pay local taxes AND want to send their child to the alternative school. If they are wealthy, they don't need the voucher. If they need the voucher, they can't afford the double-dip--or it will be, at the very least, an unwanted burden.<BR/>I don't argue that vouchers wouldn't work for that demographic slice of the middle-class that I described above. I argue that vouchers will not work if they are universally available, and available at no cost to all those people who would not otherwise be able to take advantage of them.<BR/>You don't answer my concerns about the inevitable federal bureaucracy that federally-funded vouchers would make necessary.<BR/>You don't address any of my nuts-and-bolts issues. Your personal, anecdotal experience is not a proof of anything. If you can demonstrate WHY the things that I predict would happen, won't happen, then you will have made an argument.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-71933276163286648472009-03-26T11:28:00.000-04:002009-03-26T11:28:00.000-04:00I'm just curious where the gentlemen live who hold...I'm just curious where the gentlemen live who hold a negative bias of public education. In my area of the country, job openings at public schools attract hundreds (no exaggeration) of resumes. The entire region is dotted with well-funded, excellent rated districts.<BR/><BR/>Of course, our taxes are probably higher than yours. Now, I'm not a big government advocate by any means, nor would I vote for increased taxes in most circumstances, but again...<BR/><BR/>You get what you pay for.MVDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12335170211448099206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-20182620421896839732009-03-26T10:46:00.000-04:002009-03-26T10:46:00.000-04:00Rodak, you make some assumptions, ones I have hear...Rodak, you make some assumptions, ones I have heard many times from the teachers' unions and school administrators. These seem, to me, to be people with a certain bias. No, "all of our public schools are not failing." However, enough of them are that people are complaining and looking for solutions. And it has been going on for decades. In the 50s, there was a book called "Why Johnny Can't Read". It was a best seller. The problems still exist today. In the 50 years since that book came out, the public education system has tried experiment after experiment to improve our children's eduction. And it has failed to do so. It seems that the only things that haven't been tried are those things which suggest that children might be better served outside the system. That's an understandable position taken by those whose careers are dependent upon the system. But it is not necessarily the right position. <BR/>Yes, a school voucher system will mean that you would still pay school taxes even though your children don't go to the public school. That happens even without vouchers. It's a specious argument. That most children survive public education means nothing. My own son did but I had to opt out in order to finish high school. Not because I was not smart enough but because I was bored to tears with it. You may not understand that. You seem to have a fixed mindset on this subject. I will not be able to change your mind. I am not trying to. I am speaking to those "on the fence". I am suggesting that fear is not a reason not to try vouchers, that predictions rarely come true, and that the arguments are often without any real foundation. I am not speaking in absolutes.<BR/>I leave it up to the public.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-48531088169070100532009-03-25T20:05:00.000-04:002009-03-25T20:05:00.000-04:00MVD makses some excellent points.Ultimately, a vou...MVD makses some excellent points.<BR/>Ultimately, a voucher system will end up helping only families in the middle- to upper-middle class, who are just on the economic verge of being able to afford private schooling (where available) for their kids, but not quite there. A voucher system won't federally fund schooling for the lower-middle and disadvantaged families forever. Or, if it does, it will soon become one more hated "entitlement" program. And the same people who are touting it now, will be calling for its dissolution then.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-57024885240539818202009-03-25T18:49:00.000-04:002009-03-25T18:49:00.000-04:00Question: If parents can afford 13 years of privat...Question: If parents can afford 13 years of private schooling, why not save up to buy a home in a town with excellent public schools?<BR/><BR/>Does the cost of real estate eclipse the cost of private schools? Are the taxes in these towns prohibitively high? Is the assumption of private schools as superior to public ones true?<BR/><BR/>I'm a product of the public school system, albeit from a very good district, so admittedly I'm biased. In my area, while private schools continued to cut extracurricular activities, not to mention music and art programs, the public schools kept these activities alive. Of course, our property/school taxes are the fifth highest in the nation.<BR/><BR/>You get what you pay for.MVDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12335170211448099206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-61653924031464231632009-03-25T18:43:00.000-04:002009-03-25T18:43:00.000-04:00In fact, all of our public schools are not failing...In fact, all of our public schools are not failing. Despite the almost total lack of any alternatives to the public schools in the (very small) city where I live, my two daughters were quite well educated. The older one was accepted to Wellesley College, and the younger one has gotten all "A's" and "B's" in her first two quarters at one of the state universities. But this is a university town; out in the surrounding rural counties, including the one my city is in, things are not so sweet.<BR/>Have you considered the fact that a federally-funded voucher system would set up another huge and permanent federal bureaucracy to oversee its funding and to monitor its administration? Have you considered the fact that many persons now paying for the public schools through local taxation would need to continue to do so, as well as paying to send their children to the alternative school that the vouchers made possible, once tuition for attendance at those alternative schools is means-tested as it would certainly need to be, down the road?<BR/>Another factor is that K-12 teachers will need to be much better compensated than they are now, if the quality of teaching is to improve across the board with the implementation of a universal voucher system. It is just true that the best and brightest of our college and university students are not currently majoring in education.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-50076456602381658142009-03-25T18:20:00.000-04:002009-03-25T18:20:00.000-04:00Rodak, I went to two years of high school where th...Rodak, I went to two years of high school where the classrooms only had a roof and two walls each. The class I was in consisted of students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. I went to this school because I was about to quit public school. I was not challenged, I was not being taught, at public school. You do not need an elaborate building, or major money to teach students. You need teachers who are capable, respect for their abilities, and a desire to teach. Public schools are failing to teach, are not living up to the promise implied as a social contract. Where is the fairness in that?<BR/>I believe I did answer your questions, addressed your assumptions about what might happen. But I also pointed out that you do not know those things will actually happen until it is tried. And you don't seem to want to try because you are afraid those things will happen. I say we are failing our children now, that is real, and we should have an option to put those kids into other schools which might actually educate them. My granddaughter is now enrolled in a private school. She had to qualify for it, she had to wait to get in, her parents had to pay for it (no vouchers). Fortunately, they can afford it. Not so for most others in her class in public school. Not without vouchers. Public schools have become holding pens for barely literate kids. If public education is good, it will improve itself and live up to its promise. The voucher system can help do that because nothing motivates like the fear of losing funding.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-33162011212792279452009-03-25T16:43:00.000-04:002009-03-25T16:43:00.000-04:00Rodak: You are the first person, during the past ...Rodak: You are the first person, during the past year of our maintenance of this blog, who has used the words "logistical" and "practical" together in discussing how to address an issue raised in this forum. <BR/><BR/>The Logistician tries to encourage people to focus on what it takes to get things done in our society, and unlock the chains to their particular ideological positions. We as a society can not box ourselves in at this point in time.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-47304657052215753662009-03-25T16:00:00.000-04:002009-03-25T16:00:00.000-04:00That said, Douglas, you don't address any of the p...That said, Douglas, you don't address any of the practical, logistical issues I raise. It is fine to take the libertarian "Don't tell me I can't do X" stance, if you have solutions to the collateral, problematic issues that implementing X would foreseeably raise.<BR/>If, for instance, you wanted to build charter K-12 schools where I live, you'd need a complete physical plant for each. And where would you get the excellent, experienced teachers you'd want to hire? If almost all of the kids left the public schools, would they be shut down? If so, you would only have moved the location of the school to another building. I've had this discussion before, elsewhere, and the people most adamant in their advocacy of vouchers never seem to come across with solutions to any of these fairly obvious problems.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-30975876351275346882009-03-25T15:49:00.000-04:002009-03-25T15:49:00.000-04:00Rodak, are you saying that because it won't meet t...<EM>Rodak, are you saying that because it won't meet the needs of everyone that it shouldn't be tried?</EM><BR/><BR/>Not with federal money, it shouldn't. Where is the fairness there? Many of the rural schools are not only the only choice, but just as bad a choice as the inner-cities schools often are.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-1557242850931231912009-03-25T15:16:00.000-04:002009-03-25T15:16:00.000-04:00Rodak and Douglas: Interesting points made. Roda...Rodak and Douglas: Interesting points made. Rodak, thanks for mentioning the geographic density issue. We had not previously appreciated it as such, although we were aware that inner-city single mothers were big fans of vouchers.<BR/><BR/>Douglas: Thanks for raising the issue of whether we should try something new even if it does not help everyone in society. <BR/><BR/>Assuming that we expend taxpayer funds on any education effort, what percentage of affected students should be minimally required before we think it fiscally responsible to purse the effort?Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-51951182753393197852009-03-25T14:57:00.000-04:002009-03-25T14:57:00.000-04:00Rodak, are you saying that because it won't meet t...Rodak, are you saying that because it won't meet the needs of everyone that it shouldn't be tried? If so, couldn't the same thing be said about public education? Or just about anything else? I would suggest the vouchers would provide incentive for the private schools to become viable in your area. At the same time, they would provide incentive for the public schools to deal with the discipline problem and provide better education for those students whose parents choose to stay with that form.<BR/> America is about freedom and that shouldn't be restricted by fear of the unknown or by possibly incorrect assumptions.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-9685732721822902062009-03-25T13:54:00.000-04:002009-03-25T13:54:00.000-04:00Vouchers would only work in fairly large, urban ar...Vouchers would only work in fairly large, urban areas where there exists are large number and variety of schools. If you give me a voucher here in Dogpatch, USA, I have no place to take it. The only schools, other than the public schools, are very small, sectarian religious schools, and one very small private K-6 school. <BR/>The other problem, even in urban areas, is that the alternatives to the public schools would very rapidly reach their maximum capacity and be unable to absorb more students from the failed public schools. Also, the problem kids, and the remedial cases would bring all of their issues with them, thus diluting the experience for the kids already in attendance. Vouchers sound real good, until you start considering the nuts and bolts, the problematic logisitics, of making them universally available.Rodakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077919085157653816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-37833111142827461832009-03-25T13:03:00.000-04:002009-03-25T13:03:00.000-04:00Jeff noted that a reader consensus had evolved on ...Jeff noted that a reader consensus had evolved on this topic, which he considered impressive considering the widely-varied nature of our readership. This is interesting, in and of itself. If you agree with Jeff, why do you suspect that this is not the case with other subjects? Education is a pretty significant deal in our society. What explains the difference?<BR/><BR/>Interestingly, the Logistician also noted a lack of polar extremes during the discussion on lying. <BR/><BR/>Does this suggest that individuals at opposite ends of the ideological or philosophical spectrum can meet somewhere in toward the middle?<BR/><BR/>While we are on education, how about a bit more discussion about school vouchers. <BR/><BR/>Thanks readers for carrying this discussion.Inspector Clouseauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09373932797333038561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-36200780306194612112009-03-25T10:12:00.000-04:002009-03-25T10:12:00.000-04:00Logistician,It would seem safe to declare that we ...Logistician,<BR/><BR/>It would seem safe to declare that we have achieved a reader concensus on this topic. <BR/><BR/>Impressive, considering the widely-varied nature of TVFOMTW's readership.<BR/><BR/>Jeff DreibusIndependent Cusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01447969666875879925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-50158079341598671682009-03-25T09:55:00.000-04:002009-03-25T09:55:00.000-04:00Historically, the only people who received an educ...Historically, the only people who received an education were the privileged. That is, the few who had money and/or power (the ruling class and the clergy). I would suggest that we always will have a percentage of the population seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake in spite of those gloomy perceptions of large numbers merely seeking knowledge for commercial goals. The concept that knowledge is a goal in itself is something which perpetuates a class system. The idea that knowledge is a tool and, as a tool, can be used to improve one's life is a key to expansion of liberty, equality, and theimprovement of the quality of life.<BR/><BR/>This concept, knowledge as a tool for the average person, is a relatively new one. That is, within the last 200 years. Most rapidly with the advent of the industrial revolution but starting with the advancement of a more universal concept of democratic government but got its start with the American experience. The US had much to do with this although I think it is more unintended consequence of a pairing of free market and democratic rule. When people began to see themselves as equals, not trapped within a class, education became recognized as the means to upward mobility. Knowledge and ability are what democratic free market states reward. <BR/>Therefore, it is in a society's best interest to educate as many of its citizens as it can. Leaving it all in the hands of government, without the input of private enterprise, is a state as supreme concept. When the becomes more important than the individual, we lose liberty. When the state determines what will be taught, the next step is to decide who will be allowed to learn what. All in the interests of "proper use" of public funds but, in reality, to perpetuate the personal power of those we place in charge.<BR/><BR/>By the way, Log, one of the main functions of a university president has <B>always</B> been to raise funding. And I suspect all presidents have always felt that it has taken too much of their time. Yet, the academic concerns are met by the Deans and the president's function is administration of the business side of the school.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2439647783347819362.post-65843057947654577882009-03-25T02:00:00.000-04:002009-03-25T02:00:00.000-04:00Yes, government should continue to be a part of ou...Yes, government should continue to be a part of our educational system and continue to play a big part of educating American citizens. We have to look at the bigger picture. Without a quality education, not only statistics such as crime rate, prison rate, poverty, etc rises, but America's global rank declines. At this time, the medical field recruits from other countries because there is a shortage of doctors,nurses and other medical staff in United States to fill those positions. In the future, will we have to recruit in other fields as well because we did not want to educate our own?<BR/><BR/>I am a member of the Alliance for Education and recently attended a "C3 Conference" The "C3" meaning "Careers Connection Conference" This is where business and the community connect and support the education of our youth. Business people realize the importance of educating children so that they can have competent employees. The community realizes that their community will be safer when they invest in education.<BR/><BR/>So, not only should government continue to provide an education, but the business sector, community, and the parents should play an active role in educating our youth.<BR/><BR/>I want to say a little about parent participation in the school system. Educators state that this is the main component whether a child is successful in school or not, is if the parent is actively involved. There are a few parents that I feel that they don't care or where the education of their child is a top priority.<BR/><BR/>But from my experience working in the community, a vast majority of parents do not know how to be actively involved. First, the educational system does not invite parents to participate other than "Back to School Night" or Parent-Teacher Conference. Elementary schools are the most inviting for parent volunteers. It gets more difficult,to be actively involved as a volunteer at the school as your child promotes to the higher grades. Unless, your child is in sports, music or some club, you are not welcome to volunteer in the high school. The school can be intimidating to a lot of parents, who lack education themselves.<BR/><BR/>In conclusion, our educational system needs the government but also parents, business people and the community support so that we can educate our youth to provide a competent workforce, safer communities, and a better society.<BR/><BR/>SharonNajelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03529650047480022627noreply@blogger.com