Moving Away From Parental Responsibility

April 6, 2005

In spite of the fact that Tennessee's governor faces the daunting task of fixing TennCare, despite the fact the “crisis criers” are predicting death and destruction, there's one thing on which Governor Bredesen will not compromise – his pre-K program. The governor's press secretary said as much recently, indicating that scrapping the $300 million program was not an option.

Those who support a state-funded pre-Kindergarten program have good intentions; most of them, anyway. The program is designed to take under-performing kids and give them a head start. Hey, that reminds me. Don't we already have a program that's supposed to do that? And what about the $100 million per year passed under Governor Don Sundquist that was designed to teach children how to read by the end of third grade?

Instead of throwing more money at the problem, let's take a step back and rationally examine it. Some kids are coming to kindergarten ill-prepared. They don't know their numbers. They don't know their shapes. They don't know the basics a 4-year-old should know. Whose responsibility is that? That's right, the parents. Why aren't the parents doing what they're supposed to do? Quite frankly, oftentimes there's only one parent in the house and they're busy trying to make ends meet. I'm not without sympathy for their situation but it's no excuse. They can set aside 15 minutes a day and prepare their child for school. They just don't.

So, here's the government solution. Since some kids aren't prepared for school, let's take it upon ourselves to prepare them. In other words, let's do the parents' job for them. It seems to me the child would be better served if we encouraged the parents to take more interest in their children. How do you do that? You first have to understand what motivates parents who don't care about their child's education. These type parents are living for the day their kid is old enough to go to kindergarten so they can turn the responsibility of raising them over to the school. Don't believe me? One teacher told me she called a parent to conference to find out why her second-grader didn't know her colors. The mother's response? “That's what Head Start is for.”

You see, Uncle Sam has become Daddy Sam. Daddy Sam has taken over not only as the bread-winner but he's also taken over the responsibility of raising the child. Instead of further extending the tentacles of government into the lives of the less fortunate by providing pre-K, we should be encouraging – even demanding – parental responsibility.

How do we do that? Here's how.

There are basic tests given to rising kindergartners to see if they're ready for school. These tests include knowing body parts like knees, feet, elbows, etc. They also ask about colors, shapes and other basic tidbits of knowledge. This is all good but the problem is, nothing happens if you're not ready. Sure, the parents are told what areas to work on but some of these parents just don't care. Here's where the motivation comes in. Administer these simple tests a month before school starts or whenever they register their child, whichever is earlier. If they fail, inform the parent that their child will be tested again in one month. If the child fails, they will have to wait another year before starting kindergarten. To a parent interested in dumping their child at the schoolhouse door, they'll make sure that child knows the basics. Who knows? It may become habit-forming. One thing's for sure. Encouraging a parent to relinquish their parental responsibilities to the state is not the answer.