The Gun Counter

Not the worst idea I've heard.
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Angry parents said they have begun filling in the gap by creating their own homework assignments for their kids.

Brilliant strat here, IMHO, forcing parents to take an active role in the education of their children. Too many simply view school as a state mandated day care center.

So the pendulum has swung the other way? People never can seem to find a happy medium, can they?

On a whole, I never thought I had too much homework throughout school (graduated in 96.) Not long after I graduated, it seemed that every was complaining that they were giving the kids too much homework. 6+ hours a night, 80 lbs. of books to haul back and forth, back injuries from the weight, etc. Now they are going with no homework... it is like people have no ability to look at a situation and come to a logical conclusion. They just knee-jerk this way and that. Kind of like the way my mother used to drive, full-throttle or full brake.

Should I get my tin-foil hat out and say that all of this digital stuff is infecting peoples brains and making them digital?

We offer tutoring two nights per week under a federal program called "Parental Involvement". Your federal dollars at work. It's basically a tutoring program that teaches parents how to help with their child's education. The students can come and be tutored under certified teachers, but the parents have to remain with the child, and the parents get supplemental instruction to help their children.

Of course, the teachers are paid for their time with federal (translate: Your) money. This program is available in every school disrict in the US and available under Title 1 of the Grants to Local Agencies law.

My HS was designed around the idea that it was best to get kids to work independently. So the classes were only 30 minutes long but we had about 1 to two hours of "homework" (boarding school so not actually taking it home) per class. Only 4 classes at a time with art music and PE not being considered classes although we had them.

It was excellent preparation for college but I think it only works in a model where you can just kick out kids who underperform.