Education: Parents won't put kids' future at risk

A couple of thoughts concerning teacher Nathan Gibbs-Bowling’s statement that “We won’t reach true equity until middle-class parents are willing to send their kids to schools that aren’t 80 percent white” (Matt Driscoll column, 1-28).

Does that mean that whites are inherently superior or that Tacoma schools devote a disproportionate amount of the school budget to the predominately white schools? I think not.

What his statement does is take me back 30 to 40 years to when my kids were attending public schools. Forced busing was commonplace, and many parents had to choose between sending their kids to schools where class disruption and little learning were the perceived norms or flee to the suburbs.

I suspect that parents today, regardless of color, are no different. They simply are not willing to jeopardize their children’s education, particularly when they perceive that sacrifice to be for a futile effort to educate a portion of our public that too often arrives at school lacking sufficient motivation or discipline to benefit from the educational opportunities afforded them.

Like it or not, a more equitable education for all classes won’t occur until there is a more equitable involvement and concern by all parents.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Education: Parents won't put kids' future at risk."