A school contract by parents for teachers
On the second day of school, I received this email from a reader who describes herself as “a civic leader, a parent and an educator.” She has penned a contract for teachers to sign, so they can start the year on some common ground with parents. I thought it was funny. Hope you enjoy:
Dear Teachers:
After signing several contracts with each of our six children, I have found it to be such a good and effective idea, that we have developed a little contract of our own. Please have your Principal and School Counselor sign one for each child and make sure it is delivered back to me, via the child’s backpack, within two days after the start of school.
Sincerely,
Child’s Parent
I understand that signing contracts under duress at the start of a relationship is a signal of distrust, and since it probably does little to actually alter the child’s behavior in the long run, I agree we are signing a list of expectations, rather than a pledge of future behavior.
_________________________
I understand that the majority of parents are doing the very best they can, and most of the time, they are simply overwhelmed by life. I also understand, that as the child’s first teacher, parents are busy nurturing the creative, spiritual, athletic, civic and domestic lives of the child, not to mention, responsible for making dinner every single night.
_________________________
I understand that not every child has a “pit crew” who can spontaneously dash out to buy a lunch box, music book, white shirt, piece of poster board, blue two pocket folder with center brads, jump drive, printer cartridge, gym shoes, and magic eraser by the next day.
_______________________
I understand that children need to run and play, and I will not punish them by taking away their recess, any more than I would punish them by taking away their sandwich.
_______________________
I understand that every parent is a working parent, and I will not give homework to parents. This includes keeping the internet connection going at all times, keeping printers in good working order, and stocking ink cartridges as well as paper supplies at all times. I will not give parent involvement homework that creates power struggles between parents and children, or between spouses, or reduces the parent or child to tears.
_______________________
I understand that children will sometimes get sick, and rather than sending a sick child to school, a responsible parent might keep the child home, and not find time between doctor appointments to dash over to the school to pick up homework. I also understand that even the least-scheduled child is already over-scheduled, and to squeeze three sick days of schoolwork into the future schedule, means sacrificing sleep for the recovering child.
_______________________
I understand that even the most responsible child can’t possibly keep track of the required list of school supplies and can no longer even fit them into their locker. I understand that school supplies are becoming a financial burden, a source of environmental waste, and a nice way for big box retailers to fleece our harried, time strapped and well-meaning parents who are just trying to follow the rules and do the right thing.
_______________________
I understand that heavy backpacks cause skeletal and soft tissue damage, and that it is difficult or impossible for even an adult to ride a bike, or walk more than two blocks, while carrying a violin, a 20-pound backpack, and lunch box. I will not burden the child’s backpack with any more weight than absolutely necessary.
________________________
I am aware that even children in the most loving families are under tremendous pressure these days, and when the parent returns homework with a red line through it, it is because something is going on at home that is far more important than writing down vocabulary words in different colors twenty different times.
_______________________
I understand that it takes about eight solid hours, PER child, to fill out the required forms for emergency information, contact information, PTO clubs, band membership, field trips, information sheets, immunization and physical exam reports, picture day, permission slips, lunch requests, insurance cards, behavior contracts, photo releases, etc. I understand that parents are the child’s most precious resource, and I will not squander the parent’s time or energy by sending home endless unnecessary pieces of paper, over and over and over again.
_______________________
I am aware that when schools send home friendly pointers about how to feed children, or discipline them, that parents will be holding the school to those same high standards, and that sometimes, parents might even have a few friendly pointers of their own.
_______________________
Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
Dear Parent…
Quit whining. Most of the paperwork that you have to fill out at the beginning of the year is not the teacher’s fault, it’s the school district’s fault. Second, some of us are parents too; so whenever little Johnny gets a B in Math and you start freaking out, the emails at 11 PM at night asking why the teacher won’t respond is unfair. And finally, your child might get, wait for it…HOMEWORK?!?!? It’s work you do at home. Obviously, if the kid does not have time to do homework at home, I think we need to prioritize our lives. By the way, the reason why your kid is getting sent home endless unnecessary pieces of paper over and over and over again is because you won’t come to meet the teacher at P/T conferences, but will show up to tell the teacher off. It’s no wonder why our education system is so messed up these days.
I’m not a teacher - and parents like whoever wrote the above make me glad I’m not.
I’m sure this so-called ‘contract’ will be very helpful. Teachers like to know right away who the whiny, pain-in-the-ass parents will be. This will clearly identify you as one of them.
Maybe instead of being snotty and sarcastic before (or right after) you meet this person, you instead recognize that you both are ON THE SAME TEAM - and you both want your child to learn. Also, don’t blame the teacher for stupid forms that they probably want to deal with even less than you do — if you don’t like them call the administrators that require them.
If your child’s teacher is sending home offensive ‘contracts’ - then call them and tell them you don’t like it. Don’t perpetuate the problem by foisting similar nonsense on other teachers.
If you aren’t socially mature enough to work cooperatively with another person in educating your child — then maybe you aren’t mature enough to be having children in the first place.
If I was a teacher I’d laugh at this parent. Sounds pretty whiny to me. The real world doesn’t care how busy you are, it demands that your work get done. It doesn’t care if you were sick and needed sleep, it demands that your work done. It sure as hell doesn’t care if you don’t like filling out paperwork either, because the real world has things like lawsuits which can happen if the proper paperwork isn’t filled out. Are these the messages we want to send our children? That they can make excuses? That they shouldn’t expect to be busy and overscheduled? This is about as absurd as the parents I’ve seen whining about how schools are starting too soon these days, and what ever happend to kids needing their free summer time. And we wonder why American kids are falling behind the rest of the world.
Dear Parent,
Your child clearly needs to be homeschooled so he/she can turn out as crazy as you.
I gotta agree with the rest. This parent is clearly one of the problems with the educational system. I actually had a thought when I saw the headline that now there should be a contract that the teachers send home to parents to have signed. With such expectations as making sure your child show up at class, completes assigned work, respects the teachers and administrators, etc. Also, all those forms you have to fill out are due to parents like you suing the school over ridiculous things, thereby forcing the school to enact such policies. Blame yourself, parent, you are one of the biggest problems with the U.S. Public Educational System.
Modern american education is a joke. The entire system is set up to ensure that there will always be a mindless conformed poor working class.
Just for fun, here is my point-by-point response. Though I am not a teacher currently, I did study to be one and work with youth in my job.
- Fair enough. If a teacher is sending home a “contract” rather than a “list of expectations,” then they ought to be critiqued and learn to use better nouns.
- Also fair, both teachers and parents can be overwhelmed and ought to seek to be understanding of each other. As long as those goes both ways, though.
- While a child should not be expected to have a “pit crew” getting the proper supplies is an expectation of school. But perhaps teachers should strive to always give some notice about when special supplies might be needed. Every day supplies are the responsibility of the student and their parent(s)
- Taking away recess on a temporary basis is sometimes the best punishment to fit the crime. There will be other times for playing. And besides, while playing is an important part of any child’s life, it is not the primary purpose of school.
- Again a call for understanding. Fair enough. But parents SHOULD be expected to be a part of their child’s homework life. And the younger the child the more involved they should be. After all, the are the child’s “first teacher.”
- Fair enough. A teacher ought to only assign as sick work that which really needs to be done. But time should be made in the child’s schedule to DO that work without having to miss sleep.
- Supplies are supplies. While teachers and schools ought to not over assign them, they cannot be expected to NOT have a school supplies list just because one parent is feeling harried.
- Fair enough
- Fair enough. Of course, if a situation at home is affecting the ability of a child to actually learn, the school ought to be informed so that they can be of assistance.
- If our culture were less sue happy, these would not be necessary. And eight hours seems to be an exaggeration.
- Now we’re just being snippy. I’m glad that was the last one.
Hey, that WAS fun. In all seriousness, all this parent needed to do was ask that the teacher and parents remember that they are all on the same side and ask for understanding. Most teachers would be happy to reciprocate.
People….this article is clearly tongue in cheek and intended to highlight how silly, although perhaps necessary for legal reasons, these “contracts” are, by presenting an equally silly response. Lighten up!
I can so relate to this letter. While I realize it is done in fun and I find it pretty funny, I also see the truth underneith it all. Especially the running out at midnight to Walmart to get Johnny some supply that he ‘has to have tommorow’. While the teacher probably gave a few days notice, kids are kids and they never remember until the day before they need it.
I understand that any parent who would dare to send this to a teacher is just plain irresponsible. If you can’t devote enough time to your children, DON’T HAVE ANY!! They are YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, NOT THE TEACHERS or THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Which of these parents cook dinner every single night.
Suck it up parents.