Here is an incredibly bad idea from a Texas state legislator:

A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference.

Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child’s education.

…

Under Smith’s bill, schools would send parents a notice for a meeting with three proposed dates by certified mail. Parents who don’t respond or who schedule a meeting and don’t show up without notice could be punished.

Parents should care about their children’s education.  But you can’t make caring compulsory.  All this would do is force teachers to attend more conferences with parents who are there for no reason other than to avoid a fine.  Talk about a colossal waste of time.

I do, however, draw a distinction with parents who miss conferences they initiate.  When she taught, my wife stayed late at school a number of times at the behest of a parent only to have that parent not show.  If you make an appointment with any professional, such as a doctor, and you fail to show without giving proper warning then you should have to make some form of compensatory payment.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Sunday, February 4th, 2007 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Dumbest Legislators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.