A major focus during the 2012 Presidential election was on the so called “education problem” in the United States of America. President Barack Obama and “governor” Mitt Romney each vowed improve the performance of American students. I agree that education is extremely important, but there is one problem; the United States of America does not have an education problem.

Our schools are filled with capable and caring instructors, who enter their respective buildings on a daily basis, prepared to educate the future leaders of the free world. Often, most members of the faculty arrive to work early, and leave well after the final bell.

These teachers also spend a great deal of their personal time, preparing lesson plans and grading the work of their students. Obviously, there are some exceptions. I’m not gullible; every teacher isn’t performing at the highest level. There are some instructors who barely do anything, but the majority of teachers are hardworking and caring.

I know what most of you must be thinking. “What the heck is this guy talking about? There is a major problem with the U.S. education system.”

I understand why you would think such a thing, but let me be clear; you are wrong!

I hear all the complaints about overcrowded classrooms and the lack of teaching materials, but that’s a bunch of nonsense. I’ve been in college classrooms with over a hundred students and everyone seemed to find a way to learn.

I will never believe that a classroom with forty, prepared and well-behaved, students cannot learn.

The American students are under-performing compared to their contemporaries around the world, but the problem is not the system. We do not have an education problem; we have a parenting problem!

A teacher can only do so much. Education begins at home, prior to the students attending kindergarten, and then continues inside each household, on a daily basis, whenever students return from school.

Without proper and consistent parenting, teachers will never be able to instruct their students. I would estimate that most teachers spend half of the school day fulfilling the parenting duties that each student is not receiving at home.

There are too many cases of children being raised by their grandparents, because mom and dad are too immature to get their lives in order.

These days, parents are more concerned with sending their child to school, wearing the latest fashion, rather than ensuring that the STUDENT is prepared to receive the day’s lesson.

Children should have the ability to solve basic math problems and read at their current grade level; these are the fundamentals of education. A child should not be able to recite popular and inappropriate songs, while mimicking the overtly sexual dance moves. That’s just bad parenting and a recipe for creating a future dropout.

More to the point, I know there are some parents, who think it’s cute when their child uses profanity, but a foul-mouthed child is one of the biggest parenting failures; a true tragedy.

To sum up my point, It’s pretty basic; if you find that your child “ain’t lurnin’ nuttin’!” The problem is you; not the teacher!

@PeteTeix617