What Is the Parent’s Role in Education?

In colonial America, parents were the primary providers of their children’s education.  They hired tutors, if they could afford it, or taught their children themselves, if they were literate.  Even after townships began providing a community school, parents formed the committee that built the school, chose the curriculum, set the hours and days school was in session, and hired the teacher.  Parents had ultimate control over their children’s education. Here is a brief historical overview of how K-12 education has changed since our country was founded.

The 10th Amendment to our constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”  Since public education was not listed as a federal power, it has historically been delegated to the local and state governments. However, our founding fathers recognized the need for an educated citizenry to insure the survival of our newly founded republic and laws were soon enacted to allow the federal government to support the states in this area.

Federal Funding for education began before our constitution was written.  The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 included responsibilities of the nation for an education system.  Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution granted Congress the power to collect taxes to provide for the general welfare of the United States.  The “general welfare” clause has been interpreted to include authorization to work with the states, agencies and individuals in educational activities.  Congress granted over 77 million acres of land in the public domain as endowments for support of schools in Land Grants from 1841 to 1848. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 donated public lands  to states to be used to support and maintain at least one college, and then to give the Office of Education, (established in 1867), responsibility for administering support. The Office of Education began to collect data on schools and teaching to help states establish effective school systems.  In time, this became the U. S. Department of Education.

While the original intent was to ensure that each state had a college, gradually federal involvement in public schooling began to include ever younger grade levels.  The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 promoted vocational schools. The George-Barden Act of 1946 provided funding for agricultural, industrial and home economics training for high school students. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 granted federal funding for schools and established a comprehensive set of programs, including Title I, while forbidding a national curriculum.  ESEA has been reauthorized every five years since.  In 2002 it was known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) under President Bush. The latest re-authorization occurred in 2015 when President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The overall trend moved decision making policies involving the control of education from the family and community level to the state and federal level.  And, whereas the funding for education on the federal level began in the form of land grants, it eventually resulted in taxpayer support. So, the role of parents in K-12 education has shifted from complete financial responsibility and control to indirect financial support of their children’s school through taxes, and limited influence in decisions involved in construction, maintenance, curriculum and administration.  

Special Education

During the 1970’s there were federal laws passed that addressed the needs of students with disabilities.  In 1973 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibited the exclusion from any program or activity receiving funds from the federal   government of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability.  This Act applies to public schools as well as colleges, universities and employers.  The Education for All Handicapped Children Act or Public Law 94-142 was passed in 1975.  The goals of this act were to ensure that special education services were available to children who needed them, guaranteed that decisions made concerning these services were fair and appropriate, established specific management and auditing requirements for special education, and provided federal funds to help the states educate children with disabilities.

EHA or PL 94-142 was revised and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990.  IDEA is composed of six main elements.

1.   Every student who qualifies for special education services is to be given an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
2.   Parents are part of the IEP team and no decisions should be made or meetings held without them.
3.   Students with disabilities are to be provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
4.   They are to be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), as similar to their nondisabled peers as possible.  In other words, if they can learn in a standard classroom with a few accommodations, they should be placed there and not in a special education classroom.
5.   An Appropriate Evaluation to determine eligibility for special education services and extent of disability must be administered.  If a parent disagrees with the assessment provided by the school, they have the right to request an assessment by an independent party be given.  Parents as well as teachers must both participate in the process of educating a child with special needs.
6.   Finally, Procedural Safeguards must be followed to ensure the appropriate application of this law.  This includes such things as confidentiality of information, transition services and discipline.

School districts are required to provide a copy of Parent Rights before a child can be assessed for special education services, when any change is made in those services and at every IEP meeting.  The parents may decline the copy if they wish, but it must be offered to them and explained to their satisfaction and in the most familiar language for them.

Parents are ultimately responsible for the education of their children.  The public school system can be viewed as a support for parents to use as it benefits their child.  Parents are to play an active role in working with the public school system, as supported by federal mandate.  When parents form a team with their child’s school and take a proactive approach to their child’s education, they are able to get a quality education for their child.  If parents do not feel the public school system meets the best interests of their children, they can seek out alternatives. There are several offerings for school choice today.