Editorial: Giving parents a grade?

Thursday, March 8, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, wants parents to better understand their responsibility regarding their role in their children's education. One way to further that effort, he believes, is by grading parents.

Raggio has proposed a plan that would require certain public schools - those that have for three years been designated by the state as needing improvement - to send report cards to parents. These report cards would detail whether the parents attended parent-teacher conferences, completed required paperwork and showed up at school activities. They would also detail their children's attendance and homework completion.

The schools would also be graded on the level of parental involvement, and state teams sent in to help struggling schools would use that information to develop plans to encourage parents to be more active in their children's education. The bill would also establish a state advisory council on parental involvement that would report to the 2009 Legislature.

The Associated Press reported that Raggio said he did not want to be judgmental but wants to spur more involvement by parents.

"One of the biggest problems we have in America today is the lack of parenting," Raggio said. "The first priority of a parent, whether they're working one job or two jobs, has to be to take care of their kids. You've got to quit making excuses for parents who aren't participating."

We couldn't agree more with Raggio on how important it is to stress parental involvement. Teachers can't do it alone, and studies have shown that a key factor in student achievement is a parent who is involved by checking on homework, reading to younger children and helping the child prepare for school.

Raggio may have the best of intentions, but we can't agree with his proposal, which would create too much government intrusion. The Legislature should instead be focused on adequately providing enough funding for the state's struggling schools, by boosting per-pupil spending and increasing teacher pay.

Nonetheless, we hope Raggio's proposal starts a valuable and long overdue dialogue on ways we can get parents more involved in their child's education. That shouldn't overshadow the rest of the education debate, but it certainly is a vital part of the solution to improving Nevada's schools.