Parents' place in the schools

You're hearing from educators and their union.

School board members and their association are sounding off, too.

Legislators aren't meek about proposing changes to how the business of public education is conducted in Idaho, either.

And all the while, a highly anticipated reform proposal is in the works, being fashioned by a statewide task force charged with recommending steps Idaho should take to improve education, most likely for next year's legislative session and funding.

We regret that battle lines were drawn as soon as legislators started considering ways to make our public schools better. To some, that kind of talk flew in the face of last November's resounding defeat of the 2012 Legislature's "Students Come First" tidal wave of reform. We disagree. Working with the Idaho Department of Education, the Legislature must constantly seek ways to improve education. To do anything less is to declare that there is no room for improvement - a statement we know nobody thinks is true.

We also think it's imperative that any plan for bettering the quality of education contains a strong component of parent involvement. And we're not convinced that critical aspect of fostering an environment of learning has received the attention it deserves. Other than a multitude of shaking heads and muttered laments, who has devoted the time and energy necessary to find the best practices already being used to get parents more involved with their children? Must we conclude that educational neglect at home is too great a barrier to confront? That all of public education's problems must be solved by people elected to school boards, the Legislature or the teachers themselves?

Until effective means of getting more parents involved with their children's lives are implemented - through parental rewards, if need be - the ceiling will remain unnecessarily low on educational improvement.

That's not an excuse, but a reality. It's one we hope the education task force will address head-on in its recommendations, and that our readers will weigh in on through letters to the editor.