According to a Washington Post poll:

Seven in 10 D.C. residents believe the city’s public schools are performing inadequately, with the lack of parental involvement still cited as the biggest problem facing the nearly 50,000-student system.

I don’t think this is a problem that is unique to D.C. residents. I see parent involvement as in issue in my child’s own elementary school here in Orange County, California.  Here are three examples:

1. Decrease in Parents Walking Their Child Into School: During the first weeks of school, the playground where the elementary school kids gather to line up to be walked to their class by their teachers, used to be crowded with parents. They would walk their child onto campus, chat with adult friends while their children played. When it was time to line up to go to class, parents would disperse after waving goodbye to their son or daughter. Today, I only see about 15% of the parent’s who stayed on the playground on the first weeks of schools. Instead, the line of cars in the drop off line has grown immensely.

2. Increase In Emails From My Son’s Teacher To My Wife: The 80/20 rule seems to apply once again. (20% of the parents are doing 80% of the work). When it comes to helping in the classroom, it is the same parents who do the work. It’s the same parents that the teachers must rely on each time. True, my wife does not work in the business world. She is fulfilled helping at the school, but sometimes it would be nice to share the load with other Mom’s and Dad’s.

3. More Money Spent At Staples: With the lean school funding in our Blue Ribbon California Distinguished school, kids are requested to bring in a list of supplies to the classrooms, items such as markers, glue stick, tissues etc totaling about $20. Talking with my son’s teacher, we discovered that out of 32 kids, only 20 kids brought in the requested any school supplies.

I understand that there are other factors are at play here:

“I can’t walk my child onto the playground, I have to get to work!”  -  Did work start later at the beginning of the school year when you did walk your child onto the playground?

“I don’t have time to help in the classroom”  - Wasn’t that you I saw at the gym today?

“I don’t have the money to spend on what the school’s should be providing anyway” - Did you really need that 7th pair of jeans?

The point is, parents need to make sacrifices sometimes to support their school’s and most importantly, their child’s involvement in the school. When parent don’t contribute, they shortchange their child and place the burden on other parents.

Getting involved in your child’s school is another way to get involved in your child’s life.

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