POLITICIANS AND COMMON SENSE

HB 255 is a bill that will be introduced in the Florida House -- and-- if passed, would require teachers in grades K-3 to "grade" parents on their involvement in their child's education. A parental grade would be placed on the child's report card -- satisfactory, needs improvement, unsatisfactory.

Where in the world is common sense. This is wrong on so many levels...

First and foremost, it is invasion of privacy and the parent’s right to make decisions for their own children. It is government inference at its most basic level.

Secondly, it is putting unnecessary burden on the teachers. One more thing for them to do. And, blindly, I might add. What criteria are teachers going to be given to assess parents? Can one actually make a judgment on what happens in the home by what is observed in school?

And, think about the grade. Instead of creating a bond between teachers and parents this bill (and if passed into law) is going to do just the opposite and create animosity. Teachers know their families. They create lasting ties with the parents of their children. They work hard to form positive relationships. Grading parents is a great way to sever that bond and put parents at odds with teachers.

In an effort to improvement education our government (state and federal) continues to make laws. It’s as if  they’re saying, “Look at us. We’re improving education with this law and that law. We are making our schools better, safer, smarter…” When in reality all that is being done is creating more and more unnecessary work for our teachers who are already burdened.

The author of this bill states, "If at the end of the day, all we have is the conversation that makes parents want to be more involved and recognize that involvement, I feel like we've been successful."

A grade given by a teacher is not going to make parents become more involved. Instead it will place a wedge between a relationship that is forged from mutual respect and positive interaction.

When laws like this are made it is not a “trickle down” effect from (federal to) state to county. It is a tsunami crashing over the classroom teacher’s desk washing away precious academic learning time.

Our teachers need to be unshackled from the chains on inane laws and given the freedom to do what they know how to do best. And, that is TEACH.