Parental Involvement from K-12

For parents of children attending public schools, it can be exceedingly difficult to express their concerns about disciplinary measures, school policies, or the appropriation of district funding. In the majority of cases, the best place to start is the school board. However, parent-led battles within the public school setting are often frustrating, futile, and swamped in bureaucratic red tape. This guide can help you navigate the school board infrastructure and understand how to best advocate for your child.

Great Schools describes what a school board does as follows: "A well-run school board plays a vital role in keeping your local schools on track, always with the student's best interests in mind. Ideally, a school board works with, and for, their community with the overarching goal of improving your district’s local schools. They should be maintaining a strong organizational structure for their district, one that empowers the superintendent and district administrators to manage the schools, the teachers to effectively teach, and the students to be supported in a thriving learning environment."

This video describes what a school board does.

The School Board: Where Major Decisions Are Made

For parents experiencing a personal issue related to schooling, the principal or superintendent should be the first port of call. However, if there are concerns relating to the school’s policies or curriculum, the elected school board is the only faction with the authority to

In the United States, the typical kindergartener is five years old. If a child turns five in March or April of a given year, it is highly likely that he or she will start kindergarten the following September. However, for parents whose children’s birthdays fall in the latter half of the calendar year, the question of when to enroll a child in kindergarten becomes more complicated. The practice of “redshirting,” or delaying a child’s enrollment in kindergarten so that the child is slightly older than some of his or her peers, is common

As an article in the New York Times Magazine explained, American children are eligible to start kindergarten based on a birthday cutoff date that is determined by the state, or in some cases, by the local school district. Birthday cutoff dates vary greatly; the Times reports that in Indiana, a child must turn five by July 1 of the year he or she starts kindergarten, while in Connecticut, a child must turn five by January 1 of the year he or she is enrolled in kindergarten.

Although children are generally not allowed to enroll in kindergarten earlier than the cutoff date dictates, they are allowed to wait and enroll a year later if their parents so choose.

The practice of holding a child back so that he or she is slightly older than some of the other students in a classroom is known as “redshirting.” The popular Newsweek blog Nurtureshock reports that

With a seemingly intense focus on standardized tests and rote memorization, are public schools effectively preparing kids for the "real world" beyond high school boundaries? The answers may be troubling.

In fact, nearly 82 percent of college students report that if their secondary educational experiences had established higher standards, they would have happily exerted more rigorous efforts as students. Additionally, as the National Governors Association reveals, approximately 65 percent of current high school students desire more demanding and interesting courses.

As schools struggle to meet academic expectations while simultaneously adjusting to budget cuts, are public school students currently lacking a sound preparedness for life after graduation?

Are Tests Helping Students Gain Relevant Experience?

In an attempt to boost the performance of all public schools, federal legislation implemented the No Child Left Behind act. This act, established nearly a decade ago, mandated increased student testing in order to verify the effectiveness of each individual public school's progress and instructional practices. While this act had ideal intentions, many have realized that the initiative merely distracted students from learning, while emphasizing a new focus on testing and progress scores.

An American Diploma Project, Achieve is one of the leading programs striving to foster real-world readiness among public school students. As Achieve reveals, "To close the expectations gap and better prepare students for college and the workplace, states must first ensure that high school standards reflect the real-world skills and knowledge students need to be successful after

Paying for academic performance has become a consistent debate surrounding public schools. Should children be monetarily rewarded for their grades? What are the pros and cons of financially rewarding teachers for their students’ performance?

Amidst all of these questions, a new theory has entered the ring. Some believe that parents should also be financially remunerated for their child’s public school success. To explore this possibility, some public schools across the country are experimenting with controversial cash incentives for parents, hoping that the “bribe” will help parents take on a more active and much-needed role in their child’s learning.

Will Paying Parents Boost Student Performance?

According to investigations from Time Magazine, programs providing cash motivation to parents have been seen in public school districts in nearly every state. While the moral and ethical appropriateness of such agendas continues to be clouded with controversy, recent studies show that these tactics work!

Specifically, a non-partisan social-policy research group, MDRC, found that cash incentives helped increase lower-income students’ performance and retention rates. In their study, MDRC discovered that families offered financial incentives for positive performance earned both increased grade point averages and enhanced feelings of confidence.

Adding to the reports of Time Magazine and MDRC, CNN also examined the potential advantages of financial rewards. Teachers of various public schools in Des Moines, Iowa, were fed up watching students passively fail through each class and semester.

The debate over sex education in public schools has now been extended to the question of what schools should do after students choose to have sex.

According to recent reports, teen pregnancy is on the rise across the entire country. In fact, as Martinsville Bulletin reports in “Teen Birth Rates Soar,” the national birth rate among teens aged 15 to 19 has increased by 1.4 percent from 2006 to 2007. In total, this equates to 42.5 births for every 1,000 females in this age group.

With the rising rate of teenage pregnancy, many communities are being forced to debate over whether or not public schools should provide day care programs for teen parents. Many teenage parents, especially teenage moms, choose to drop out upon giving birth to their child. Therefore, some leaders assert that public school daycare programs can help decrease the propensity for some teen parents to not reach graduation. On the other side of the argument, many public leaders and community members believe that day care only encourages irresponsible sexual choices.

The Pros of Public School Day Care

As the Martinsville Bulletin further reveals, in areas of lower income and employment rates, teenage pregnancy rates tend to rise. For example, Henry County, located in Virginia, experienced a startling increase from 33.8 children for every 1,000 females to 40.9 children for every 1,000 females (under the age of 20) over the course of just