Rochelle Riley has written a column today about this topic:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle


"Mike Thomas arrives at Detroit's Chrysler Elementary every weekday at 2 p.m. He helps direct traffic. He tutors. He buys toilet paper.

Mike Thomas isn't the principal. He is a Detroit Public Schools parent. And every time he sees a news story about the failures of the district and how lazy parents are, he gets angry.




That's because the stories aren't about him. Complaints about teachers aren't about his wife, Shannon, who continues to work after school until 11 p.m. every night creating exciting lesson plans, grading papers and making sure her students have food and coats.
"The parents at our school -- we work hard," he said. "I know those parents you're talking about, but it's not us."
Ninety-three miles away from that school, state Rep. George Cushingberry, D-Detroit, lauds parents like the Thomases.
But he wants to do something about the other parents, the ones who are too young, or who don't read well enough to help their children. He is sensitive to those for whom poverty has been an obstacle.
But Cushingberry -- and I -- want something done to help teachers whose classrooms are filled with kids whose parents have let them down. Whether they are behaviorally challenged or just woefully, academically behind, they make it harder to teach good students. And there are many good students in DPS.
"How can we continue to penalize the children for their parents?" he said. "I wish I had a way around it."
There ought to be a law


There is a way around it. The state should require parents to sign an education contract with penalties. Parents who dismiss their duties toward their children's education pay a fine. Guilty parents who get state aid risk their checks.
No, I didn't marry Rush Limbaugh over the weekend.
I'm channeling my grandparents, conservative Democrats who earned everything they got and demanded educational excellence from every child they knew.
I'm channeling Edna Cushingberry, a loving, demanding mother whose son, George, grew up to become a lawyer and state legislator. And Cushingberry wants such a contract made mandatory for parents who receive aid from the Department of Human Services.
"If you receive a state check, you will see to it that your kids are at school on time and prepared," he said.
Sign the dotted line -- for cash

The contract would require that parents:
• Assure their children's daily, on-time school attendance. [[School is mandatory. Enrollment through age 16 is mandatory. The only thing not mandated is parental responsibility.)
• Teach young children necessities, Cushingberry said, such as their names, their primary colors and the alphabet.
Why should such an overbearing document even be necessary? Because, historically, Michigan hasn't believed in education:
• Legislators, only three years ago, increased statewide high school graduation requirements from one civics class to a standard curriculum.
• Social promotion is not only still legal, but the norm.
• Only a quarter of Michigan residents over 25 have a college degree, and an estimated 44% who are 16 and over read below fourth-grade levels.
Between legislators such as Cushingberry, parents like Mike Thomas and teachers like Shannon Thomas, many of whom do six jobs [[teach, feed, clothe, counsel, transport and parent) -- there is hope.
But the solution requires more than tough love. It will take being tough on anyone, on everyone, who is failing kids.
Especially their parents."