Should Parents Be Graded on How They Support Their Kids Through School? [POLL]

A measure is making its way through the Mississippi legislature that could require teachers to grade parents on how well they are, or are not, supporting their children's academic efforts.

The language in the bill is pretty clear. The excerpt below is from the Mississippi legislature.

AN ACT TO ENCOURAGE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO PROVIDE THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH  INFORMATION AND TOOLS SHALL BE PROVIDED TO PARENTS OF STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 12; TO SET STANDARDS FOR PARENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SPECIFYING CAUSES FOR STUDENT UNDERACHIEVEMENT; PROVIDING PRINCIPLES ON WHICH PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IS BASED; TO PROVIDE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH REQUIRED SHARED INFORMATION BETWEEN TEACHERS, SCHOOLS AND PARENTS; TO REQUIRE TEACHERS TO ASSIGN A PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT GRADE ON STUDENT REPORT CARDS; TO REQUIRING THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO ADOPT AN APPEALS PROCESS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

 

The important part of this comes in the end of the paragraph.

TO REQUIRE TEACHERS TO ASSIGN A PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT GRADE ON STUDENT REPORT CARDS.

The rest of it pretty much states that they will determine how they assign these grades, and that they will inform parents of expectations and standards.

It's all about parental accountability. The teachers and the schools are basically pointing to the fact that they can do a great deal to educate our kids, but if the home life doesn't support it, that will have a big effect on students' achievement.

I can't argue with that.

However, do teachers really have all the information needed to assess a grade on a parental performance?

Also, could this have a negative impact on kids, signaling them that they shouldn't be expected to have good grades because they come from a troubled home? I know this is a truly legit reason that kids struggle in school, but does it help them to know that?

Maybe it would. Maybe, if they take the average of the effort that they put in with their parents' effort, they could see a real world picture of the situation they face.

Conversely, could it take hope away from a child? Might they see their parents' horrible grades and give up thinking that they could never be expected to be successful given the situation they were born into?

What do you think? Would this be a good idea to do in Colorado?