Educating our Children
Parents are Responsible
We as parents are primarily responsible for the education of our children. Ultimate responsibility does not lie with teachers, school administrators, or the government.
In General...
Parents know and love their children more than anyone else and desire the best for them. Parents should have the option to send their children to a public school. They should also have the option to have their children educated at private schools or to educate them at home without government interference. Parents need to be involved and will be the greatest determining factor in the success or failure of their children's education.
Competition is Good
Children should not be forced to attend failing schools. It is a great thing if successful districts are willing to allow students to attend from other school districts. Charter schools should be encouraged as an alternative to traditional public schools in order to increase educational options and create more competition. With more alternatives, failing schools will either improve or “go out of business.”
Local Control is Best
Guidelines for public schools, such as what skills should be mastered by the end of each grade, are important to allow students to move from one school to another with ease. However, we need to realize that our teachers and administrators have the best grasp of what kids need to learn and the best way to teach their particular students. The teachers and administrators in Wyoming and Byron Township understand the values of our community, are accessible to parents, and should not be dictated to by the State (or federal government for that matter) about how to do their jobs. The community can, and should, hold their schools responsible. This goal is made easier if parents have more options.
Sending most of our education tax dollars to Lansing so that they can decide how much to send back to our schools has resulted in providing too much power to the state government. We need to think of ways to maintain as many of the benefits Proposal A provided (lower property taxes, diversified funding streams, more educational choice and greater resources for poor districts) while bringing the power back to the local level and ultimately to the parents.
Giving Parents Options
Provisions should be made to allow for educational tax credits or tax free educational savings accounts. Parents or guardians of children could then utilize these credits or accounts to help fund educational expenses such as fees charged by public schools for busing, pay-to-play (or other extracurricular activities), private school tuition, or homeschooling expenses.
Mentoring
If children do not have anyone in their lives to model responsible living, how can we expect them to figure it out on their own? Mentoring programs such as Kids Hope, Boys and Girls Club, and Big Brothers Big Sisters should be encouraged and supported by our communities.
Our communities should also look to create places for parents or guardians of children to seek advice, encouragement, and support from parents who have successfully raised children and have wisdom to share.