Improve Schools? Pay Parents to Read to Children

I watched all the glad-handing and backslapping and smiles and pledges of success around the $100 million gift from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (pictured right) to the failing Newark school system announced on the Oprah show last week.

But how will money translate to better grades for Newark's public school children?

Maybe New Jersey officials need to take the cash and split it up among Newark parents in exchange for a binding pledge to read to their children from their first night on the planet and every night after that until they hit their teens.

I think that over time, compelling parents to read to their children especially in their first years of life would provide better results than whatever scheme the state employs to spend the gift funding.

Okay, paying parents to read to their kids isn't a practical solution but it does underscore where the battle to improve test scores of minority kids needs to be fought most fiercely - at home.

We simply need parents to stop paying lip service about wanting a better education for their children and work for it. From day one, learning colors, forming words, and counting off numbers, provide the basis of what can be a rewarding educational experience.

We need parents to send their kids to school not only ready, but eager to learn.

And good parents, who are truly a child's first teacher, never think of handing that important responsibility off to an educator who is being paid to be there.

They realize that teachers have children for six hours a school day and those other 18 hours fall under a parent's watch.

One thing is certain.

We know money isn't the problem in most urban school districts, especially Newark. The Newark school district spends roughly $23,000 per year per pupil while the national average is $9,500. Yet only half of Newark's school children graduate.

So exactly what is the problem?

Some racists and quack researchers may come to the conclusion that black kids simply aren't as smart as white kids as was hinted at in the controversial book, "The Bell Curve", in 1994.

Research I've seen over the years says that kids, regardless of race, start off pretty much the same. But when they reach pre-school, the sad differences in scholastic achievement start to show.

There is no excuse for black children, who make up the largest portion of Newark's school population, to perform so poorly. None.

The Facebook money might help build up some labs and gyms for Newark students, but if you really want to see improvement, let's get parents to stop talking about better education and start doing their part.