Is The Texas GOP On Drugs?
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.