It's the Parents  

This decision has been a key factor in undermining state finances. Billions upon billions of dollars have been spent on urban school districts. The facilities that have been built are far nicer than even those in the wealthiest school districts. The amount spent per student in Abbott districts far exceeds that spent in suburban districts.

And to what effect? Very little, unfortunately. The average cost of a student in Newark is in the range of $25,000 per year. Yet about half the students in Newark will drop out of school. Clearly money is not the solution.

But if money isn’t the problem, as most people now realize, what is? Ah, it must be the teachers. If only we had better teachers we would have more success. If only we got rid of the deadwood, our children could flourish. If only we had the best and the brightest in front of the class, all problems  would end.

There is probably some truth in this. Better teachers make better students. But better schools offer more opportunities, as well. Fixing the teacher problem may have some effect but, like money, it is not the sole solution.

The Elizabeth school district is an interesting case in point. Elizabeth is an Abbott district. It has done a great job building new schools. It has been on the cutting edge of improving teacher performance.  It has done away with middle schools, converting all its schools to Kindergarten through eighth grade. Elizabeth also has more high-performing schools than any other district in the state.

Yet Elizabeth has a number of underperforming schools, as well. Why the dichotomy? All the kids are in the same district. They all have state-of-the-art facilities. All the teachers are drawn from the

same pool.

Years ago my wife’s cousin, who was a teacher in a rough San Francisco school, paid us a visit. My son was just a toddler and I asked her how I could make sure he did well in school.

Her answer was not to send him to a nice suburban school, or to make sure his teachers had advance degrees. Her answer was that my wife and I be involved – that we go to back-to-school night, that we get to know the teacher and, most importantly, that we push our son to do his best.

My son has done very well in school. He will graduate this year and he is applying to some of the top universities in the country. I know he is where he is because of us, his parents.

I think if you look closely at the top performing schools in Elizabeth, you will also find that parental involvement is far higher than in the failing schools.

So maybe the real solution to the education problem is the education of parents. If parents push  their children, their children will succeed. It is the greatest gift we can give.