Passing the buck on Education

It seems like every year the President makes improving education a priority. Similarly every year the solution is holding teachers more accountable. The thinking seems to be that the regression from world leader in education to middle of the pack is directly attributable to our teachers. Like any work place there are good employees and bad employees in education but to think that this explains the decline shows Americans willingness to place the blame at the feet of others. It seems to me that the biggest change in education over the past 50 years is not in how we educate our teachers and but the expectations we have for our kids.

In the glory days of education parents sided with the teacher when their child was out of line or failed to complete the required work. Today too many parents side with their children at every turn. Their child couldn’t possibly be a distraction in class. The teacher must be picking on their kid. These parents always assume their child is right and the teacher is wrong. They will make excuses to explain away the poor behavior and effort from their child.

This lack of personal responsibility is very pervasive in American today. When a drunk driver kills someone in an accident we blame the bar tender for serving too many drinks. When a smoker gets cancer we blame the cigarette manufacturer for making the product too enticing. When our kids get fat we blame the fast food companies and act like if they just stopped giving away toys our children would be the picture of good health. So it’s no surprise that when our kids fail we blame the teacher, the school, and the system rather than accepting responsibility for how we failed as a parent or hold the kids accountable for their actions. That would require that admitting that we are not perfect.

Education is like any skill. We need practice to get better. Earl Woods didn’t just assume his son would learn all he needs to know from a weekly golf lesson. He got involved and pushed Tiger to practice hard. Richard Williams didn’t just have his daughters Serena and Venus play a few games of tennis a week. He worked with them every day and developed their abilities. Similarly, if we expect our students to improve their test scores we have to put in the work. Class time may be enough to comprehend a subject but practice outside of school is how you get from comprehension to proficiency and back to being a world leader.