COLUMN

Making Parents Accountable

By JOSEPH H. BROWN

Published: Sep 16, 2007

When it comes to our public schools, accountability is mandatory. That's why we have the FCAT here in Florida and the No Child Left Behind Act at the federal level.

Teachers are held accountable for their students' performances, as are administrators. Governments responsible for funding education are held accountable for the money they allocate, and how it's spent. Schools are rated on how well their pupils do, and those students are tested to measure their progress.

There's one important component in the education process, however, that always escapes accountability: parents.

Teachers could be perfect, but they can only control what happens on school property. They can't make parents enforce homework assignments or make sure their kids attend classes regularly. If kids fail, it's the educators, not the parents, who are held responsible.

But if a judge in Escambia County has his way, that accountability imbalance could begin to change. Parents of kids who habitually skip school could find themselves locked up under an aggressive plan to curb truancy in that Panhandle community.

Parents Will Have To Answer

"Parents who ignore several warnings and offers of help will have to explain to a judge why they shouldn't face jail time for misdemeanor charges," according to the Associated Press. "Escambia County school officials worked with Circuit Judge Ross Goodman to toughen the consequences."

One of the earliest indicators of eventually dropping out of school is chronic tardiness and truancy, so this is a good way to nip it in the bud. Still, I can already hear all the complaints by parents and civil libertarians about how draconian such a policy would be. To that I say that if everyone else is going to be held accountable for the education of our kids, then it's past time their parents joined in.

But no one wants to chastise parents for possessing poor parenting skills (which affects us all) and not making education a priority in the home. I've talked to local teachers who tell me of parents who see nothing wrong with their kids dressing like they are in a gang or turning tricks. They often call parents about their child's misbehavior only to have the parent find some roundabout excuse which blames them for their child's actions.

Granted, some moms and dads aren't engaged because they don't know how to be. Perhaps educators can work with that segment of parents, but those who show no interest in the education of their children need to be held as accountable as the school system itself.

A Three-Way Responsibility

Education is a task that must extend beyond the schoolhouse door. It's a three-way responsibility involving the student, the parents and the school. And as with a three-legged stool, if the three are not all doing their part, the whole structure will collapse.

Escambia County school officials said 177 of the district's roughly 40,000 students missed at least five days in the first two weeks of school. Are the teachers responsible? They might as well be, because when those students drag down their schools' FCAT grade, they'll be blamed.

No Child Left Behind insists that teachers will teach every child, no matter how irresponsible his parents are. While jailing parents for their kids' truancy is a good idea, changing a culture of indifference will be the harder task. Still, making sure the kids are in school every day is a start.

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.