We hear about high crime areas in the news, and the media and others excuse it because the people there are poor, uneducated, and forgotten. Someone robs a store, attacks a police officer, and ends up dead at the hands of the police. The rioting and looting that follows is excused by groups like Black Lives Matter because the people are poor, uneducated, and forgotten. The media sympathizes. Politicians sympathize. “What can we do? We have to help these people! We have to dooooo something!”
So the government throws more of our tax dollars at schools in the area. Better schools=better education=less poor, they claim.
I say “throws” because we might as well throw most of that money into the trash for all the good it does.
The cities where we constantly hear about these things–Boston, Detroit, Chicago, New York City–are among the highest in school spending per student, and the teachers in those states make among the highest salaries for teachers in the country. Therefore, access to education must not be the problem.
So what is the real problem?
PARENTING! Parenting is the problem. Or to better clarify…LACK of parenting.
Chronic absenteeism/truancy from school is rampant in these cities. For the 2013-2014 school year, 67.1% of Detroit students were chronically absent according to Michigan Capital Confidential. Two-thirds! Baltimore shows 42% of high school students were chronically absent from 2006-2011. And in Chicago, reports show a rate of 52%-62% chronic truancy for the years 2011-2012.
It really doesn’t matter how great the schools are or how much money is spent in the school if the desks aren’t occupied. If parents don’t care enough to make sure their children get to school and stay there, the problems in these cities will never be solved.
It is surprisingly difficult to find statistics for absenteeism and truancy. Hmmm, wonder why? Could it be because the powers-that-be, the people in education whose salaries are paid by our tax dollars, don’t want us to know? If they can continue blaming lack of funding for children being at risk rather than starting at the beginning–home–then we can continue to grow government, which in turn provides higher salaries for teachers and administrators.
Naw, that can’t be it. :/
The value of a child’s education starts at home. If people don’t value their children enough to ensure that they get to school and stay in school, no amount of public funding will help.
Personal responsibility is hard, but it is the first step in anything that matters. #PersonalResponsibilityMatters
