Taminy-
I do understand your point. However, I have heard way too many parents who believe that educating kids is "not their job". They pay their tax dollars and hand them over and forget about it. This goes across the spectrum rich to poor.
All of our charter schools REQUIRE 30 hours of volunteer time. No matter what, no exceptions. If you don't do it, your kid can be removed at the end of the year. However, they do make and grant exceptions for cases of extreme hardship. Anyone in the child's family can do the volunteer hours. When I was at the high school, many times the kids did their own hours. At that school in particular, more than 50% of my kids lived in foster care and nearly all of them had been in juvenile hall. They were committed to making a change in their lives.
When held to the fire, so to speak, parents find ways. They cut out butterflies at home, make flash cards, sharpen pencils, come to board meetings- they find ways to make it work. 30% of my son's school is on the free lunch program and I'd make an educated guess that 30-40% do not speak English at home. But the major difference is that ALL the parents are committed to their child's education no matter what happens.
