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By that I mean, for the sake of the school, not the sake of our own child. Someone stated that sending a child to public school is similar to including all senior citizens in Medicare, regardless of income. The rationale is that if you take the wealthy seniors out of the system, the system will go down hill. So, do you think this is accurate? Do public schools need us, not just our tax dollars? I would love to hear from Informed Consent and Charles Wallace, as I have great respect for their thoughtful posts!
No. However, if you choose to send your child to public school, it is your civic duty to make that school the best school possible. This means being active in PTA, active in your child's education, keeping open communication with teachers (but not helicopter parenting), and volunteering your time as often as your schedule and job allows. Schools don't just fail because of administrative failures- they fail because parents don't play an active role in their children's education. School was never meant to be a daycare for kids but many parents treat it as such and don't reinforce the importance of education at home.
I had the option of going to Phillips Andover Academy, arguably the best boarding school in the country (yes, I was one of THOSE kids who always wanted to go to boarding school!) . My parents couldn't part with their precious baby so they worked with my school to make sure I got the equivalent education at my public school. And honestly, I don't think I could have done much better at a private school! But even though it was a great school, many kids were still failed not just by the system, but by parents who couldn't bother to focus on their child's education. That's just completely depressing to me.
My daughter was interested in Andover too, but I guess I was a bit like your parents,lol. I can't imagine being the type of parent you are describing. But maybe I phrased the question wrong. Do you think if a parent chooses a non-public route to educate their child they are shirking their civic duty. Even if they are involved in their child's school?
I believe it is our civic duty to try to make our public schools the best quality we possibly can. Other than that, it's up to the parent where to send their child, though for the record I do NOT believe in a voucher system.
I had the option of going to Phillips Andover Academy, arguably the best boarding school in the country (yes, I was one of THOSE kids who always wanted to go to boarding school!) . My parents couldn't part with their precious baby so they worked with my school to make sure I got the equivalent education at my public school. And honestly, I don't think I could have done much better at a private school! But even though it was a great school, many kids were still failed not just by the system, but by parents who couldn't bother to focus on their child's education. That's just completely depressing to me.
You were lucky that your public school was willing to work with your parents to provide you an education that was equivalent to Andover. Many, many parents who have tried to do the same or something similar run into brick walls at their public schools. Administration, teachers, PTA, etc., all steadfastly refuse to work as a team with parents who are trying to make sure their children are getting a good education. In far too many cases, it's not a team effort between schools and parents. It's the school's way or NO WAY! That's why I really disagree with the posts that insist that the problem is parents. I've seen many parents try to work with public schools, and every time, the schools drop the ball - not the parents. There is way too much focus on one-size-fits-all, lockstep education in many public schools that is way over the heads of some students and so far below others' capabilities that it should be recognized as educational neglect, abuse, and malpractice.
I'm still thinking about the OP's civic duty question. The public school system is self-destructing because of educators' poor decision-making on too many curriculum, pedagogy, and policy issues. Is it our civic duty to expect parents to sacrifice their children to ill-conceived and unproven Ed School theories and ideologies?
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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It is you duty to send your child to A SCHOOL I think. Doesn't matter public or private. You still pay taxes for public schools even if you send them to a private school.
It is every parent's civic duty to monitor and supplement their child's education. Whether that means a public or private school education is a personal choice. Homeschooling puts a much larger burden on those parents. Some are no doubt able to shoulder that responsibility. Others are holding their kids out of schools for "reasons not related to education", shall we say.
No... my primary duty is to my own children, so I don't send them into what I consider a failing system. My civic duty is to pay my taxes so that the community as a whole, which includes the school system, benefits. Sending my children to school would not benefit anyone financially... the public school still gets my tax dollars, and they don't have to fork out any money for my kids, so keeping them out of school seems like a win-win situation for everyone. I see the argument that parents who are very involved in their children's education would be more likely to help out the PTA and such, so if those parents choose to send their kids to private school or homeschool, the schools are not benefitting from their input, however to me, my effort to change the schools as a whole would not be worth it in time to help my own children. Once they are older, I plan on mentoring children as I did before I had my own children, so I will help at-risk kids in that way instead of contributing my time to an institution that I mostly disagree with.
so are most of you saying we have a civic duty to educate our children (obviously) but not necessarily in the public school setting? What do you think about the Medicare analogy?
I don't understand the analogy, but I don't know a lot about Medicare... isn't it the case that everyone who worked has paid into the fund that pays for Medicare, so really, why would it matter if someone was wealthy or not, and accepting Medicare or not? I see that wealthy people pay more into Medicare to begin with, but by the time they're ready to accept it, they're not paying into it anymore. Is that right? I could be way off base, I don't know, LOL.
As for the analogy itself, yes, if only non-involved parents sent their kids to public school, then it would all go to pot (well, if you don't think it has already...). That is an unfortunate fact. The public school system needs a total upheaval, and perhaps that's the wakeup call the government needs to fix the problems. Sadly, the ones who will suffer the most are the children whose parents don't care, don't have time to help, and/or don't have the desire/ability to send their kids to private school or homeschool.
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