Tying Parents To Achievement

According to the U.S. Census, the households most likely to be headed by two parents are as follows: Asian (86 percent), white (75 percent), Hispanic (67 percent) and black (37 percent). According to virtually every study done on the subject of academic achievement, the same races rank as follows: Asian, white, Hispanic, black.

Obviously it will take a multimillion-dollar government study to draw any conclusions from these data, but one might contend that the academic achievement gap grows wider during the hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., when parent-teacher conferences take place and homework gets done, than it does during school hours. The academic achievement gap is a serious problem with far-reaching economic consequences, and no amount of tax dollars will help without parental involvement in education.

Later this month, Connecticut's legislature will vote on whether to ban smoking in cars with children. I challenge any lawmaker who is in favor of this measure to propose a bill that legally requires a minimum standard of homework completion for all public school students. Violation would result in a modest fine for the parent(s), which would be waived upon the attendance of a conference with the teacher to discuss academic improvement.

Do we care about children or not?

Mark Henry, Glastonbury

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