It’s your child: Why parents must take the lead in education

Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project

I really liked the video linked at bottom. I think at some point the Independence Institute started a new video series about education, and this is one of their episodes.

The thing that made this one catch my eye was the topic. It’s something near and dear to my heart: not just an encouragement to get involved in your child’s education, it’s also a guide.

To give you a quick sense of the topics in this discussion, I took a picture of the timestamps from the video description and attached as screenshot 1.

I’ll leave it to you to watch the video, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple last thing.

One of the most important things you can (and should if you’re not) be doing to make sure you are involved is to ask your child what he or she is learning and to talk to your teacher about what they use in the classroom. Read worksheets, read texts, talk about classroom discussions.

I also want to put in a word for you taking the bull by the horns and filling in any gaps you feel there are between what is actually taught and what you feel like should be taught.

Take your child to the state capitol and talk civics. Read the books with your child that you think ought to be in the cannon but aren’t at your school.

It’s your child. Just like you have parental rights, you have parental responsibilities.

Colorado is by and large well-educated, but is that paying off?

The answer is “not always”.

The CPR article linked at bottom, which profiles a recent study, gives a few statistics regarding educational attainment in Colorado. If the numbers are of interest, please look around.

I want to focus instead on a quote near the end of that article.

“The new baseline data signals that while Colorado starts from a position of strength, simply increasing college completion will not be enough to meet the [study’s] target. Brown [Courtney Brown, a vice president at Lumina Foundation which did the study] said policymakers and higher education leaders face increasing pressure to align certificates and associate programs with high-demand industries and improve transparency about earnings outcomes by major.”

As well they should.

For too long now, a college degree was presented almost like a talisman guaranteeing one success. As a result, a lot of square pegs were stuffed (or were tried) into round holes. I see it myself: students with little interest in what they’re studying, little investment in what they’re doing.

College isn’t a guarantee of success, it isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t for everyone right this minute.

I think many potential students are learning the lesson. You cannot depend on the stock advice about college, and you cannot always depend on a potential school’s advice. You have to do some independent digging and asking around.

The second link below is to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, a great jumping off point if you want to search by career field. There are tons and tons of statistics you can view regarding degrees, employment, salary ranges, etc.** Use this info to start to formulate questions about the field you’re considering.

One last thing, and this pertains to borrowing. Alongside the push to get everyone into a degree, any degree, there was a rise in the “need” for student loans.

No. Borrowing is a bad idea except for a very few high-demand AND high-salary fields.

Work your way along, even if it takes longer, but do not borrow. It’s not worth it. There is no need for you to only be a student; the “college experience” might be fun, but do you want to be paying for that over a decade or two to the exclusion of a decent place to live or car?

Some type of post-secondary education or training is a great idea and will help you earn more (as well as offer you more options so you’re not stuck in life). Don’t get stuck on that equating to earning a bachelors degree, or with going to a residential college right after high school, however.

Do your research. Make thoughtful decisions and investments with your time and money. This might include wandering a bit. Maybe you work at McDonalds and rent an apartment for a while. Maybe you join the military.

There’s nothing wrong with putting the decision off for a little while. It might even help you gain some perspective. It’s certainly better than wasting money in school if you don’t really have a firm direction.

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.