Agreed. Sadly I think the only practical approach is to take a "you can't teach old dogs new tricks" approach. And just flood education money into schools starting with one new generation. Let the old system die with the old generation, if you attempt to integrate things the costs get out of hand fast and for a group that is far less capable of change. Its sad that to have a real effect on the young generation you have to essentially abandon the old one, while simultaneously asking they take a more firm hand in the children's education.

I don't think many would disagree with it either, because most people want their kids to have a better life than they did.

We're all entitled to our own facts on here, ok buddy?

The problem comes from parents who want to help but aren't capable. I read a study once but can't remember the specific grades or even city, the gist of which was that parents in impoverished neighborhoods couldn't pass a test given to their 4th grade children on average. Meaning their help at home can be really lacking.

If any money should go to parental education it should be solely for them to teach their children not job training IMO. Sad thing is you could offer a free class one night a week and it would be a ghosttown. People act like they will do anything to help their children but if it hurts their pride or takes up too much free time they wont.

If there's one thing that poor and undereducated parents are known for, it's their copious free time.

Not sure if serious or not. Because I constantly hear from the left about how all the poor people have zero free time and thats why they eat shitty and can't get drivers licenses.

I apologize for not throwing sarcasm marks on that one.

And i'm sure a good 10-25% of the parents have real excuses like work. And the rest don't. And they're rather spend the small amount of free time they have not going to the school to take 4th grade math. and their child suffers as a result of their pride and sloth.

My wife has been a teacher in a low income district for years, i know that there are a very real portion of parents who try their hardest and still come up short. They are not the parents I'd blame. I blame the other very real portion who are just terrible parents. The second group is as large or larger than the first. teaching special needs my wifey sees the worse cases imaginable, children who have had disabilities implanted into them not by genetics but by physical abuse, mental abuse, or neglect. She currently has a family that is defrauding the state out of money by purposely having more children with a horrific syndrome that has 100% chance to pass from parents to children. The mother has no job and the children come to school in the same clothes for every 5 day week. Shit buried under their fingernails and not a comb or brush in the whole house. This mother has no job, doesn't go to school. Just sits at home "taking care of the kids" which is actually a feral pack of autistic psychos. I wish i could say that was the worst of it, but thats just a case of neglect. The abuse cases are far worse.

My mother raised me and my sister single. We stopped being able to ask for help after about 6th grade in math. Her response was "So what, that's what teachers are for". She made it our responsibility to ask for help from our teachers if we didn't understand something after that point. She also worked over 50 hours a week and attended every sports and academic event me or my sister participiated in, and most every night, so there wasn't a lot of extra time to learn higher math. It's higher than 10-25%.

Taking that class means sacrificing supporting their children in other ways outside of academic, which is just as important.

the number was nothing but a spitball, and its entirely subjective. What you feel is excusable as a parent and what i do will invariably differ as will the percent. Can we agree that a healthy percentage of people in general are shitty and by extension are also shitty parents?

I don't support a "teaching parents to teach kids" class at all. That was a response to someone earlier suggesting that we give job training to adults to "make them worth 15$ an hour". I would prefer the former.

But this also isn't a hypothetical for me, my wife holds a class every Wednesday night that was designed to teach parents with kids with special needs more about special needs. Mainly autism as that makes up a healthy portion of the kids in her classes. First night the class had zero people. Now its just a time she does her paper work and occasionally gets 1-2 parents filter in to do a Q&A. These are parents who come into conferences and scream "why isn't my kid reading like the other kids" who can't get to a single meeting in a calendar year to find out. With provided child care in a separate room mind you, no need to even find a sitter.

Like i said, parents like your mom who by the way sounds exactly like mine, aren't who im talking about. I understand there are people who give it everything they have and come up short. And there are those who come up short by choice.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Apr 19 2016 04:00pm