As the man part of a man and woman (wife-husband) team, raising two strappin? young lads, I was interested in reading: Parents are truant — student achievement at risk.
In a press release from the ‘Your Child? coalition, I read: ‘One in four parents in the Great Lakes region don’t make time to get involved in their child’s education,? and get this, ‘because, they say, they don’t have time.?
Damn parents! Damn those good-for-nuthin? (besides taxes), lazy, mean-spirited, heartless louces. I mean, damn we lowsy, no-good, parents — I have to include myself here.
The release was dated November 14, so it’s relatively up-to-date, breaking information. It is also info that I say so what to (right after I spew a diatribe of profanities on the self-anointed, holier-than-thou, doing God’s work educrats). Leave it to a group headed by the folks from the Michigan Education Association and a bunch of other education-minded groups to call the glass half empty. Excuse me, a quarter empty.
Any other group would say, ‘Yipee, the glass is three quarters full — now let’s work on fillin? her up to the top!?
Your Child, a group whose address is strikingly similar to the MEA’s East Lansing digs (actually it is the same), also says Michigan parents were a drag on the region’s numbers: ‘Michigan parents . . . on some measures are less engaged. One quarter of all Michigan parents are detached from the education of their child and don’t do the bare minimum — help teachers get to know their child.?
Damn the parents! They are to blame for driving education into the depths of hell!
Your Child surveyed 1,700 parents in the six Great Lakes states and came up with ‘one in four parents don’t make the time? excuse. No where does the release talk about that 25 percent.
Like, where are those time-straped parents from? How many of that quarter are single parents working two jobs to make ends meet? How many of those ‘less engaged? parents are busy working hard, paying their bills, watching taxes rise, raising their kids and taking care of their elderly parents or grandparents ta-boot?
What percent of that 25 percent is actually ‘truant? and doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about their child’s education?
What are the specifics, ‘cuz I don’t believe things are as dismal as the MEA says they are. I bet that percent is the same percent that has always breathed air, gave birth and don’t care. I’d wager you the numbers, by percentage, are the same now as when I or you were in school. There was always that kid or family who just wasn’t on the ball — all the kids knew who they were, the parents knew who they were and the teachers knew who they were.
What has changed is the amount parents are involved. Every week there is a letter from school asking for donations of money, time or goods. Sell this cheap trinket for Johnny’s future. Bake cookies for little Suzy’s development. Come on down and help build the playground. The hands are always out and open from schools, and when you give and give and can’t give anymore, you’re cast as the unclean, uncaring, child hating one. And it ain’t just parents.
The next time you shop locally, inquire of your friendly local businessperson how many groups (school and civic) come in wanting money. While it is not extorsion, what will folks say when they don’t give. Go ahead and ask, then remember them when voting on raising their non-homestead taxes.
Educrates — those in the field who are ‘above? teachers — always come out crying over their multimillion dollar bank accounts. Did you know in 2001, 125 employees of the MEA earned more than double the average income of Michigan teachers? MEA President Lu Battaglieri’s 2001 salary of $127,099 (plus $70,000 for travel and a car) was only the seventh highest in the union? A full two-thirds of the MEA’s $58.2 million budget was used to pay employees.
Michigan teachers are the second highest paid in the nation (behind only California). The average teacher in Michigan makes $54,020 a year. The average starting pay here in 2003 was $32,649 — a 2.3 percent increase over 2002.
Parents and tax payers across the state have been ponying up and paying more and doing more. They care. Whenever I see anything from the educrates, I always hear a sad song playing in the back ground and I know the poor-poor-pitiful-me dribble will start soon. They whine, they cry, they point fingers, they cast blame and they ask for more.
When was the last time you heard them say, ‘thank you??
Stop trying to shame us into doing more and start talking to us as adults to acheive our common goals.
Comments for Don the Unclean can be e-mailed to: dontrushmedon@charter.net/