CNN: What can PARENTS do?

There's a commentary on CNN written by Ronald Fergusen about the impact and influence of parenting on the quality of education in a child's life.

Key points:

1. "Making schools better should be only one part of our national strategy. Life at home has been a relatively neglected topic and needs to come out of the shadows."
2. Blacks and Hispanics report less leisure reading at home than Whites.
3. Blacks and Hispanics have fewer books available at home than Whites.
4. Differences in parenting styles between the Black and White communities may play a role in educational development.
5. The role of parenting is apparent when the achievement gap of the students is greater among the highly educated Black and White parents (16 years of school or more) than with parents of lesser education.

In my observation, a loud and outspoken minority of parents frequently complain about the quality of teachers or the quality of the school without ever owning up to their responsibilities at home (which is BS). I can only take parents seriously who actually show up to parent-teacher night and keep in touch with the school on their child's progress. It keeps everyone honest.