The Important Lesson of the $5 Fine

In Chicago, where Rahm Emmanuel is trying to hold low-SES parents accountable for their childrens' school performance and behavior, the parents have spoken: No Way.

And this story holds an important lesson for us as we go into the final phase of redistricting.

With Emmanuel's blessing, a well-regarded charter school has been fining parents $5 per violation for their kids' transgressions, including dress code violations and breaking school rules.

This policy inspired several hundred parents to march on CPS headquarters, claiming the school was forcing them to "take food off their tables" and endure other profound hardships.

This is what happens when you put conditions on what was previously a no-strings-attached entitlement. When you move somebody's government cheese.

The parents could have responded by imposing appropriate discipline at home, stopping the fines by insisting their children comply with the charter's well-publicized rules, but instead they chose to take a stand AGAINST accountability, AGAINST high standards, AGAINST, in fact, their own childrens' best interests.

The problem of parents who can't be persuaded to send their children to school ready and willing to learn is so racially and politically charged that in none of the voluminous discussions about SES on this forum have any of the 04W or Southside commenters been willing to go anywhere near it.

"Those parents" are indefensible, so instead, some of our intellectually dishonest and self-serving neighbors are continuously trying to redirect the conversation to how "privileged" we are in our "enclaves" and accusing us of not caring about children on the wrong side of some street.

Give them their due: the apologists for all these failing parents are loud and persistent, like a really bad case of tinnitus.

And pretty soon this political football is going to the BOE and City Council, where it will get kicked all over the lot, Errol Davis's reasonableness notwithstanding. Did you read the Tweets yesterday? Politicians and BOE members can hardly wait for Errol Davis to give them a plan so they can have their way with it.

I want you to remember this:

All the parents who could not be bothered to dress their kids appropriately, help with homework or impose discipline at home nevertheless had plenty of time and energy to rally at Chicago Public School HQ today for their right not to be held accountable.

These are the people whose values we reject, wherever they happen to live. And a great many of them live right here.

When the 04Wers and Kirkwooders and others decide they actually want to take on the problem of uninvolved parents, that's when they can come to us and ask us to make sacrifices to help their schools get better. Not until then.

Oh, you can try to force us to do it--and maybe Mr. Davis will cave or the BOE/Council will strongarm him. But you haven't thought of one thing--if and when that happens, we will just build a charter school here in our little "enclave."

We'll secure public funds; we'll make it better than any school APS runs right now--even SPARK or MES.