Who Should Be Held Accountable for a Child's Education?

Who should be held accountable for a child's education? Teachers say parents are responsible and parents point to the teachers, especially when things are going wrong. When things are going well, each is more than willing to take responsibility.

Teachers generally think parents do not do their share. Glance at any online teachers board and you will see complaints about kids who do not get their homework done, come to school unprepared for the day. More specific complaints include parents who have their kids too busy with sports and parents who do not do help with homework. While these teachers make good points, they seldom dig deep enough to find the real problem with the child.

Sure, some children have tough home lives, and are incapable of learning at home; many of the children whose parents are blamed for poor performance do not, but are grouped with these kids anyway. In many cases stress in school make kids completely disconnect at the end of the day in a desperate search to separate themselves from school when they are at home. Reasons children may stress to the point where they turn off all aspects of school when they get home is bullying, learning disabilities, and personality conflicts with teachers. Parents often do not know and really have no way of knowing that the child even has homework or needs further study without direct communication from the teacher. Therefore parents want teachers are held accountable for a child' shortfalls.