When students from countries like China, Korea and Finland were compared with those of the United States, it was discovered that a U.S kid spent less than an hour pursuing homework or school assignments as compared to kids from these other countries. In a recent evaluation of students from various countries like Poland, Estonia and South Korea, The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA found that kids from the US rank behind sixteen other economies in student literacy. U.S. student rankings in mathematics are lower than countries like Slovenia, Hungary and Taiwan.

When expressing their opinion about the public education system, the task force on Education Reforms and National Security headed by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former head of New York City public schools, Joel Klein, stated “educational failure puts the United States’ future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk.”

The question is not who is responsible for the deplorable state of the U.S. education system. The real question is, Who can make it better? Will it be the teachers? The federal and state lawmakers? Or the lackadaisical students themselves?

The answer is simple, if there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: the parents. It would be an understatement to say that educational problems in public schools are aplenty. 

Various researches and studies about the educational problems in the public schools of America show that parent involvement is vital for the success of schools across the country.

• Schools which support programs designed with strong parent input have been known to produce students who perform in almost every academic and extra curricular field.
• A positive learning environment at home seems to work for even the weakest children in the field of academics. When schools who’s performance is below average, parent involvement can greatly improve student performance.

If you are a dissatisfied parent, here are few things you need to remember about public school education, along with steps you can take with the administration. 

Under the No Child Left Behind Act parents are afforded these rights

• The school is obliged to keep you well-informed about your children’s progress by sending frequent progress reports throughout the academic session, conducting no less than one parent-teacher meeting per year and providing easy access to teachers and supporting staff.
• The school is obliged to keep parents involved in school activities by encouraging active parental participation in activities, and involving them in the development of the school’s parent involvement plan.
• Schools are obliged to inform and involve parents in every school program. This can be done by holding parent-teacher meetings throughout the year and voluntarily sharing information concerning the professional qualifications of their teachers. Asking parents for recommendations and opinions on how they feel the school can be improved further.

Remember this is not just about holding people in authority accountable for the pathetic state of what you pay heavy taxes for, this is about the future of your children and the entire country. So it's time to do something about it.