Family Views, April 2014 – by Michelle Hensman

Growing up, my dad had a funny way of teaching me to be both accountable and self aware; when things went awry and I proceeded to blame someone or something else, he would say, “I don’t want to be the one to mention names, but the initials of the person at fault is Michelle Elizabeth Gregg,” (Gregg is my maiden name). His intention was to make me smile and encourage deeper thought about the situation. He wanted me to analyze my response or judgment and accept responsibility for my own actions…or lack thereof. He was successful on all accounts…most of the time, (wink).

Around this time of year we, parents, become consumed with our child’s education as opposed to our children who have become infected with spring fever and obnoxiously itch to be anywhere but a classroom. It’s the last half of the year, the time when we want to know what they’ve learned and give us a glimmer of their potential for the future. Up to this point we have been relentlessly reminding them time is ticking, get the grades up, get everything turned in ON TIME and “git ‘er done!” Then the 3rd quarter report card arrives and our little darlings are not at the level we feel they should be or performing at a capacity that we believe they are capable of. We want to know why and who’s responsible.

We are a culture that demands answers and action, so naturally we want to blame our teachers, a reasonable and logical scapegoat; especially for those who want to use the recent MSD teachers strike as a reason for their child’s lack of learning. Or how about those administrators and the district for asking our teachers to do more with less, or the state and federal government for not allocating more money to education. OR…I don’t want to be the one to mention names, but the initials of the persons at fault are the citizens of the United States of America; that’s you and me, folks.

Let me be the billionth person to say: There is no way that any school could possibly ever teach our children everything they need to know to be successful on an inadequate budget that begets: limited staff, resources, and time. OH! And that’s assuming all children arrive at school every day, on-time, rested, with full bellies, in good health and prepared to learn with an engaged mind that eagerly anticipates 6+ hours of lessons. Currently, all teachers/administrators can do is select a few critical components that as a society we consider, generally speaking, most valuable, for the majority of the population; that’s it, nothing more…unless something changes.

So what should we do?

If you’re like me, policy and politics don’t make sense and I’d prefer to stick a fork in my eye than to take the time to figure it all out. Fortunately, there are some advocates in our community that devote an enormous amount of time and energy to making the education system better for all of our children. Inquire at your local schools admin office about what issues are pressing to them, share with them your concerns, (ahem, proficiency grading!), and ask whom you can contact to voice/register your concerns to. Also, check out the Stand for Children website, (www.standforchildren.org), you’ll find their organization to be a great resource for filtering information from the federal/state government. They’ll help to clarify what policies actually mean, specifically for our children in our local community. Lastly, please, volunteer at a school, any school. Schools are looking for parents and community members to share their time, skills and talents in ways that will help students to make real world connections and inspire a love for learning through the experience and passion of others. Even if all you have time for is helping make copies, staple papers, stuff folders or grade work off of an answer key, you are making a valuable, necessary contribution.

There’s no one to blame for what we allow to happen, but ourselves…

Posted March 28, 2014