Summary: A happy parent can tell you so much more than any evaluation from an administrator. Now that I am out of the classroom, I can say that without having to worry that putting my parents’ happiness above all else can somehow harm my job status. Where I taught in Oklahoma City, we used the Marzano’s Instructional Strategies as a metric for our teachers’ success, and NOWHERE in the Marzano’s Evaluation do they ask parents — “Are you happy with the job the teacher is doing?”<br> Actually, nowhere do they ask parents anything. This is bonkers, backwards, and all sorts of bad. And I am not bashing Marzano’s. This is a systemic cultural problem in education. Parents aren’t valued because parent satisfaction doesn’t really affect enrollment. Without school choice, the system is not structurally designed to consider parents dreams, hopes, and desires. A good principal, teacher, or district obviously wants parents to be happy but the system ensures there is no skin in the game!<br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045">In this episode, take on the establishment and fight for the rights of parents! </a><br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045"></a><br> For those who aren’t fully on board with school choice, that’s okay! In this episode, I’m not getting into the macro-policy discussion. I’m more interested in this fundamental question:<br> Do parents have the right to choose where they send their child to school?<br> If they don’t have that right, what can be the consequences? Let me use an analogy to show why treating parents like they have a choice is crucial to making them the proudest, happiest parents in the world. Imagine if there was only one doctor in town and he wasn’t very good (just like there’s one school in an area and it may or may not be very good). Your child gets sick and you don’t want to send him or her to this doctor in your area because he has a bad reputation; instead, you want to send him or her to a different doctor who is much better. However, this doctor is in a different part of town and this doctor only serves the people in that part of town. In fact, the city made a law that you aren’t allowed to take your child to any other doctor but the one in your town, even if he’s not very good. So even though the doctor in your part of town is failing and he’s messed up year after year, you have to keep bringing your kids to him. Thank goodness we have “Doctor Choice!”<br> If that example seems scary, it’s because it is. This is why many of our public schools are failing in this country. No matter how good or bad a school is, parents can’t do a thing. So, going back to Marzano’s, it is no surprise that parents are not even factored into the discussion when evaluating teachers. Parents aren’t asked for their hopes, dreams, and expectations when developing a curriculum. And parents aren’t consulted when crafting new standards and benchmarks. If our school system values parents’ opinions and happiness, it has a funny way of showing it. Despite everything, you can make parents feel like the valued customers they are.<br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045"></a><br> The biggest mindset shift that teachers and schools can make is to start treating parents like customers. And if my analogy hasn’t convinced you, that’s okay. You don’t have to believe in school choice to make parent satisfaction a main focus of your class. Imagine that parents can choose to send their child anywhere in the world; wouldn’t you want them to still choose your classroom?<br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045">In this episode,</a>
