Families & the Community

Parent Engagement ‘Emergency’

By Elizabeth Rich — June 14, 2010 1 min read
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A prosecutor in Wayne County, Michigan, which includes the city of Detroit, is pressing for jail time or fines for parents who are a no-show at parent-teacher conferences. The Detroit News is reporting that Prosecutor Kym Worthy is so concerned about truancy and juvenile crime that she feels the need to resort to a threat of legal action to encourage parents to be more active in their children’s education. Worthy did say there would be exceptions for parents who are ill as long as they “are communicating with the school.” A spokesman for the troubled Detroit Public Schools, Steven Wasko, called the urgent need for parental involvement an “emergency” that only “incentives” and “persuasion” could possibly remedy.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.