February 9, 2014

Blaming Parents for Poor Schools

Introduction

Parents can get emotional on the first day of school. Todd Heisler/The New York Times

We cannot improve education without ”more demanding parents,” President Obama said in his State of the Union address. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently mused that he “wished our biggest challenge” was “too many parents demanding excellent schools.” The authors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld say some parents are more focused on building self-esteem than demanding excellence.

But are schools really doing poorly because parents don’t care enough to push their children and their schools to excel? Or are educators shifting responsibility to parents who are ill-equipped to take on such a role?

Read the Discussion »