Mississippi House passes bill requiring teachers to grade parents

(AP)

If a bill passed by the Mississippi House becomes law, students won’t be the only ones receiving grades from teachers.

Under House Bill 4, also known as the Parent Involvement and Accountability Act, teachers would be required to grade parents’ involvement with their children’s education.

The legislation, by state Rep. Gregory Holloway (D-Hazlehurst), would mandate a section be added to each child’s report card on which the parents are graded on their responsiveness to communication with teachers, the students’ completion of homework and readiness for tests, and the frequency of absences and tardiness.

Mary Clare Reim, research associate on education at the Heritage Foundation, said the bill is the wrong way to encourage more parental involvement.

“My initial reaction is, this is absurd,” Reim said. “The concept that parents should be graded by teachers on their involvement is a reversal of what the education system should look like. Parents should be grading teachers on their performance. Putting grades on parental involvement from the top down is not the way this should work.”

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