The Problems With America’s Public Schools | Eastern North Carolina Now

1. Education funds must follow students, not systems.
2. Parents have the right to engage in the selection and approval of academic standards.
3. Parents have the right to access educational materials, resources, and syllabi taught to their children in the classroom.
4. Parents have the right to make medical care decisions on behalf of their children.
5. Parents will receive timely notification of information related to the health, well-being, and education of their children.
6. In-person education is a right that should always be available as a choice.
7. Parents have the right to transparent access to school and school district academic performance.
8. Parents have the right to access detailed and up-to-date district financial records.
9. Parents have the right to opt their children out of the classroom for delivery of content listed in the syllabus with which they disagree.
10. Parents have the right to know about situations affecting their minor child's safety in school (individually or school-wide).. Parents shall be notified in a timely manner of all reported incidents pertaining to student safety, including all crimes or misdemeanors committed by teachers or other school employees.
11. Parents should never have to "co-parent" with government. "Basic and sound education" is the sole province of government; parenting is the sole province of parents.
12. The right to know what their minor child is being taught in school, including, but not limited to, curricula, books, and other instructional materials.



13. Parents have the right to determine and choose which education environment will best serve their child's education needs, without judgement from others or resistance by the school system, even if that environment is at home (home-schooling).
14. Parents have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding their child's education, well-being, and access to public school progressive indoctrination. Religion, morality, family and social values are matters to be directed and respected as belonging to parents.
15. Parents shall not be required to sign non-disclosure agreements or similar forms for parental review of curricula and shall be allowed to make copies of curriculum documents.
16. Parents have the right to visit their child during school hours and to be able to sit-in on their child's class, upon making a request to do so.
17. Parents have the right to be provided with information, data, and statistics as to the shortcomings or failures (as well as successes) of each school system their child can potentially attend.
18. Parents have the right to information on who is teaching their minor child, including guest lecturers and outside presenters.
19. Parents have the right to information on individuals and organizations receiving school contracts and funding.
20. Parents have the right to all school records, medical or otherwise, concerning their (minor) child.
21. Parents have the right The right to information about the collection and transmission of their minor child's data. Schools and school districts shall obtain parental consent prior to collecting any biometric data or other sensitive personal information on the minor child.
22. Parents have the right to be notified should the school feel the need to have a counselor speak to their child, and to have the right to refuse to have their child "counseled" by the school.
23. Parents have the absolute right to be notified of and to be involved in the filling out of ANY questionnaire or survey that the school assigns to their child. Likewise, parents have the absolute right to refuse to have their child answer such questionnaires or surveys. Parents have the right to control what information is shared with the school system (ie, government).
24. For parents of exceptional children: Parents have the right to have their child's exceptionalism diagnosed and served by the education system.
25. Parents shall be able to remove their child temporarily from a class or activity that conflicts with their religious beliefs.
26. Parents have the right to be heard regarding complaints about their child's education, their child's teacher/teachers, and how their child is being instructed. School boards must establish a way to consider and respond to complaints from parents.
27. Parents have the right to make suggestions to their child's school regarding education and to be taken seriously. Parents have a stake in their child's education and a duty to over-see how it is being delivered.
28. Gender identity is a matter that lies with a child's parents and not with the school system or the government.
29. Parents shall be empowered to sue schools for injunctive relief that do not protect these rights. A pattern of such violations in a particular jurisdiction will trigger major reductions in education funding.

    11. Funding Issues with the Public School System - Funding is always an issue for schools and is, in fact, one of the biggest issues facing the American public education system today. The public school system never has enough money. Teachers are always crying for more funding for their classrooms and for their students. Approximately 85-90% of K-12 schools funding comes from state and local governments, largely generated by sales and income taxes. Research shows, however, that funding has not increased with need and many states are still issuing funding that is lower than it was before the Great Recession. Lower funding means fewer teachers, fewer programs, and diminished resources. The problems with the need for more funding are two-fold: It incentivizes states to seek federal funding (which, according to the express language of the US Constitution, is unconstitutional) and also means that teachers continue to make low wages. The benefit is that it allows and incentivizes teachers to be creative in their lesson delivery (which, after all, is where the real skill of a teacher lies).


    12. The Unions Have Too Much Power Over the State and Local Boards of Education - Concerned parents and concerned citizens are finally understanding the power that teacher unions have with respect to state and local boards of education. The unions have an iron grip on the delivery of publicly-funded education in government schools, Parents and concerned citizens need to work to break the monopoly that they have and insist that the only groups that technically and reasonably should have an iron grip are themselves.

    In short, and in summary, state boards of education and local boards of education have become too political and too overly activist. We must never forget that "Whoever controls the education of our children controls the future." Look closely at who controls the education of our children. What kind of future are they looking to create?