A legislator in Houston wants to subject parents to criminal charges for skipping a scheduled meeting with their child's teacher.
Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown, said it is time for the state to crack down on Texans who are shirking their parental responsibilities by failing to meet with the teacher when their child is having academic or disciplinary problems.
Under the bill, parents who miss a scheduled conference with a teacher could be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and fined up to $500. Parents could avoid prosecution if they have a "reasonable excuse" for failing to show up. State education officials or school districts would probably be left to define what's reasonable but, for example, a medical emergency would probably suffice.
It's hard for some people to believe that parents might not show up for a meeting to discuss their children. Of course, we all miss appointments every now and then due to unforeseen circumstances. The bill suggested by Rep. Wayne Smith is not intended for those parents who occasionally fail to show up for a conference. This bill is for parents who almost never come to school to see how their children are doing. Enforcing the bill would be extremely difficult. Leaders of teacher groups realize that teachers often try to talk to parents but are unable to get them to school for a meeting. They question, however, if charging the parents with a crime is the way to go.
We certainly appreciate the intent of the bill, which is to increase parental involvement in their child's education. But we're not sure criminalizing their behavior is the way to achieve that," said Larry Comer of the Association of Texas Professional Educators.
"Unfortunately, teachers often don't hear from some parents until the end of the school year, and that's after they have learned their child won't pass or won't be allowed to graduate," he said.
Sure, parents need to attend scheduled conferences or make themselves available by phone. In real life, this doesn't always happen. Also, do we really want parents to show up angry because they are only there because of monetary threats? Rep. Smith's bill does remind the public of what teachers often face when attempting to do their jobs. Contacting parents isn't always as easy as one might think. How many times have teachers been asked, "Have you talked to the parents?" after numerous attempts have already failed? In some cases, phone numbers given by the parents are no longer viable contacts.
School districts are unsure of how they would enforce the law. How do you determine if an excuse is valid or not? I can just see it now. Parents will be writing themselves notes for their absences. "I'm sorry I was unable to attend my child's conference. You see, the dog ate his homework, and we had to take it to the vet to have its stomach pumped."