If Parents Were Treated Like Teachers

Today I worked on repairs to America Pathways books. I also helped out teachers old and new with getting materials and boxed up the rest of the surplus books for now. I got to sit in on the staff meeting which was mostly for the licensed staff and worked while I listened. Could you imagine what it would be like if parents were treated like teachers? No matter how hard you worked, you would live paycheck to paycheck. Every day you'd have to post what lesson you were going to work on teaching your kids that day and know how that fits in with your annual strategic plan. We'd have to have research based curriculum in our homes and parents would have to be qualified and undergo yearly professional developement often on their own time and expense. They would have to put all daily tasks through evidence based decisions and continually assess their kids against selected standards. Supervisors can walk in at any time and there would be a meeting every month to six weeks of Professional Learning Communities where parents would get together to discuss how they are doing. Are their kids using Cornell notes at home? Have their test scores risen?  Countless laws both local and federal would have to impact each moment you interacted with your kids. You had to use only available materials, some of them years old and worn because the district didn't have money to get new timely books or materials. Now you find out you now have 30 kids if you're in the lower grades and 180+ in the upper grades. Man. I'm continually amazed at what our teachers do every day with the students they interact with and it's not for the money, it's because of the love they have for the students and their subject. I applaud you all. You are truly amazing.