What is it with the Texas GOP and education lately? First we have Perry — by executive fiat, I might add — using the government to take parenting away from parents:
Gov. Rick Perry stood firm Monday against a political firestorm generated by his order that sixth-grade girls be inoculated against a sexually transmitted virus linked to cervical cancer.
Then we have this story, which has been burning up the edusphere:
AUSTIN, Texas — Parents beware: Miss a meeting with your child’s teacher and it could cost you a $500 fine and a criminal record.
A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference.
Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child’s education.
I understand why this might seem attractive to frustrated teachers. But before you jump on the bandwagon, step back, relax, breathe deeply and think about it — and read the comments at Right on the Left Coast.
This bill is legislating parenting. Do we want to go further down that road? Yes, I realize we already have started, but it’s one thing to remove children from physically abusive parents and entirely another to force parents to attend meetings — and no doubt at the teacher’s convenience.
If you remember, we went through all this during the Clinton era. There was a bill to force students to say “sir” and “ma’am,” as well as at least one bill (or talk of one) to force uniforms at all schools (as I recall, Clinton came out in support of that).
And like those bills, this one is feel-good legislation, meant primarily to make the legislator and his supporters feel good about themselves because they did their duty for the children. (Cynical? Me? Never!)
Joanne Jacobs is correct: The bill is unenforcable. It’s also, well, stupid. So the parents go to the conference to avoid being charged with a misdemeanor, and ignore everything you say. What then?
And although those are certainly good reasons not to pass this bill, they aren’t the reason.
Government intrusion is.
Liberty has distinct disadvantages. And one of the disadvantages of being free to have children is that bad parents are inevitable. And no matter how many laws you pass to combat bad parenting, they will fail. Bad parents have always existed, and always will exist. The only thing your laws will have accomplished is to further restrict liberty and turn the responsibility for parenting from parents to the government. And before you insist that would be a good idea, or that government can do a better job of parenting, reflect on the state of family services departments across the fifty states, possibly the most grotesque big government failure that exists in our nation.
But not attending conferences doesn’t necessarily imply bad parenting. Conferences are often scheduled without regard to the work schedule of the parents. Or go to Kitchen Table Math and peruse the articles written by parents, frustrated by arrogant teachers and school administrators who ignore their concerns. Why would they attend a conference only to be insulted again?
After all, the IRS has the power to fine me if I don’t show-up at a conference that has been scheduled in order to discuss meeting Uncle Sam’s financial needs vis-a-vis my tax liability.
Many doctors, dentists, and other professionals routinely bill clients who miss appointments without notifying them in advance.
Yes, but they’re not analogous. The IRS believes you broke the law (whether the law should exist, or how we may feel about it or the IRS are other issues). When you make an appointment, you make a contract. Break it, and pay a penalty. Neither is the same as one more government intrusion into the family.
Perhaps… at the very least… those parents who are receiving some sort of government assistance (such as welfare) might be required to meet with their children’s teachers when the need arises. Should they decide not to attend, these parents might just find that their next monthly assistance check has gotten smaller as a result of their poor judgement.
I’m slightly less uncomfortable with this idea, but only slightly. The government is still intruding where it has no business. California is considering making corporal punishment illegal. States have passed countless laws “for the chil-dern!” telling parents how they may and may not raise their children. We have gone too far down the road of legislating parenting already. This bill is a disaster.
Dante says:
Hi there.
Is this a blog by a real right winger or a parody like the Colbert Report?
February 6, 2007, 8:06 pmrory @ parentalcation says:
I completely agree with you.
I haven’t been to a parent teacher conference in years. Even so, I make it a habit to drop in to my kid’s teachers classrooms at least once a month. Today in fact, I dropped in on my Son’s gifted class just to see what sort of crap they were teaching.
You would be surprised how much you can learn about a teacher and your kid with 5 minutes of classroom observation.
Sara over at the Quick and the Ed has a great post on this subject. She points out that Teachers only want one type of parental involvement…
Rory
February 6, 2007, 10:24 pmPeggy U says:
This article reminds me of a disagreement we had with the school when our first son was in 7th grade. One day we received by mail a notice that our son had an unexcused absence (just one, mind you - his first). The notice stated that if we did not contact the school and offer an explanation within 48 hours of the absence we could be liable for a $25 fine or community service!
Well, I distinctly remembered phoning the school on the day of the absence, because he had a dental appointment that morning. In fact, he returned to school after the appointment (checking in at the office), but had still been marked absent for the entire day.
A few things really steamed me about this notice. First of all, it was mailed more than 48 hours after the alleged absence (two weeks after, in fact)! Second, our son walked to school because we live a short distance away. Since the school marked him as missing, they should have followed up with a phone call shortly after the start of the school day. However, they did not call me, my husband, or our emergency contact; nor did they leave a message on the answering machine. This means that if he had walked to school on that day and truly hadnot shown up, we would not have known about it until the end of the school day. That would have been a late start for an Amber alert, folks! So, who is negligent here? Finally, the tone of the letter was incredibly snotty. It seems to me that if you are going to make a form letter to be used by the entire district, and if there is a possibility that it might be issued in error, then it would be best to err on the side of courtesy. Most past due bills at least carry a disclaimer to “kindly” disregard if there is a question as to payment status!
February 7, 2007, 3:30 amjoubertconlon says:
Rick Perry has all sorts of connections to Merck, the maker of the vaccine. I smell a rat.
February 7, 2007, 1:09 pmweaver says:
i have to say that when i heard about a governor issuing an executive order to have 6th grade girls innoculated against a virus that did not consistitute anybody’s idea of a public hazard or communicable threat, i started yelling. i didn’t stop yelling for a long time. like i needed another reason to homeschool.
according to texas law, what do they do to stop this idiot?
February 7, 2007, 1:39 pmbird dog says:
Not only is it insanely intrusive, but it sets up an adversary relationship with the school - which is built to serve the parents who support it with their taxes. Who the heck do they think they are?
February 7, 2007, 1:48 pmPeggy U says:
While I agree the vaccine is probably a good thing, it is not the school’s place to handle its administration. Unlike measles, polio or HIB, this disease isn’t airborne, and it doesn’t present the same kind of public health nuisance. Unless they have students fornicating in large numbers on the school grounds, there should be no reason for epidemics of HPV among grade school children! Really, keep them at their desks studying - problem solved!
The decision to get the vaccine should be made by informed adult women. Pamphlets could be sent home with 6th graders to inform their parents of the vaccine’s benefits and its availability, and as always, Planned Parenthood could get in on the act by offering it to the girls who visit their facilities. For all I know, they probably do that already. I agree with Joubert Conlon: follow the money trail.
February 7, 2007, 8:57 pmRight Wing Nation says:
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February 8, 2007, 10:59 am