CURMUDGUCATION: The Federal Family Fixing Plan

CURMUDGUCATION: The Federal Family Fixing Plan:

The Federal Family Fixing Plan

It's the kind of document that only a federal bureaucracy could create, and you still have a little over two weeks to comment on it.  Meet the DRAFT POLICY STATEMENT ON FAMILY ENGAGEMENT FROM THE EARLY YEARS TO THE EARLY GRADES. 

It's a policy so bureaucraticky that it took two departments-- Education plus Health and Human Services-- to come up with it. Like all good government documents, it ranges from dull to obvious to dumb to terrifying. And it wants to address, in particular, pre-K. Also pre-pre-pre-K. Its stated purpose is to formulate some policies "on systematically engaging families in their children’s development, learning, and wellness, across early childhood and elementary education settings." 

Announcing the Problem

I tell my students never to open a piece of writing with a Bulletin from Captain Obvious (The Sun Also Rises is a book that people have read), but this opus leaps right in with "Families are children’s first and most important teachers, advocates, and nurturers."  That's not a problem, but the kind of governmental attitude that gives some folks fits starts to show up just one paragraph later with this sentence:

Both Departments recognize the critical role of family engagement in children’s success in the early and elementary education systems.

Does it? Why, that's mighty good of it, like a guy who says, "Lady, I think you look perfectly okay," or a white guy telling a brown guy, "Hey, I've decided it's perfectly okay for you to be here." Still can't see it? Then look at the definition of "family engagement."

We refer to “family engagement” as the systematic inclusion of families as partners in children’s development, learning, and wellness.

Congratulations, families! The government is going to "include" you as partners. It is the government's table. You're invited to have a seat at it, but it's their table. Consider how different CURMUDGUCATION: The Federal Family Fixing Plan: