by Carrie Weitz

Created on: October 01, 2008   Last Updated: October 10, 2008

Relinquishing complete control of a child's education to a school is akin to relinquishing complete control of personal finances to a bank. While it is important to place an enormous amount of trust in the institution of choice, our personal input is an integral factor in the result. Being active in education isn't merely a right, it is a parental responsibility.

Hopefully, the average school is not intent on retaining complete control. This would mean devaluing research that shows a direct correlation between parental involvement and student outcome, as well as dismissing family values. Instead, the real question would seem to ask how much involvement is appropriate. In my opinion, a parent's educational role is intended to be as prominent as the school system's, if not more. These are our children, not the school's. Schools provide a service for our children, not the other way around. Unfortunately, that hierarchy is often ignored.

When my own child was preparing to start the fourth grade, one of our back-to-school goals was to save paper grocery bags for covering textbooks. These bags were never used. The textbooks were not to be taken home. Parents were invited to use the 30 minutes of classroom time at the school's open house event to thumb through the materials our children would be using that year. Otherwise, it seemed we were to simply trust that our children were diligently working away on curricula choices we need not concern ourselves with. Papers rarely came home, making a list of online grades our main reference for doling out praise or demanding more effort.

I know many schools do not take this approach. In fact, quite a few provide entire sets of textbooks for students to keep at home. Too many parents still find themselves being encouraged to limit their position to enforcing homework and study times, along with providing food and shelter, in order to have these children prepared for where the real education takes place. Whether parents are welcoming this division, opposing it, or simply wouldn't put forth any effort either way, this disconnect should not be taking place.

Compartmentalizing is a popular trend because it is easier for schools and for parents. Meanwhile, adults rarely encourage children to value the easy road. An interesting contradiction, considering the children are the ones we claim to be serving.

The ultimate goal of education is to raise productive citizens. A school can be an integral key to that goal, but it cannot be effective on its own. When we sever the connection between school and home, we lose the ability to show these children how classroom learning and real life mesh. The outside world needs to be brought into the classroom, and the classroom needs to be brought to life. The common thread is the parent; the adult with the greatest vested interest in the child. As such, control should never even be a question.

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