Question

Imagine that you are a young parent who is disturbed at the
way toddlers are burdened with examinations and homework.
Write a letter to the editor of a local daily, expressing your
concern.
​

Answer 1

Answer:

Original post made by Parent, JLS Middle School, on Dec 18, 2014

This is a legitimate question. I called the California Department of Education today and they did not know the answer.

What gives the school the right to give my child homework? Under what legal framework are they allowed to expect my family to put all of his and our time 24/7 at their disposal in order to get a high-quality public education?

Is this just something we've all just kind of accepted, or is there a legal reason the school can do this?

Please do not turn this into an argument over whether homework is "good" or not. That's not why I'm asking.

Any teacher will tell you that at any time, about half the parents are complaining about too much homework and half are complaining about too little. I personally feel families know their children, and they are probably both right. What is best also depends on a lot of other factors, including access to alternative educational opportunities.

But when I feel that my child's spending 4 hours on homework every night and more than that, never having a life (despite all this talk about changing things and our attempts to complain about it) is bad for him and get nowhere, and I frankly see him at a school with really great teachers whom I feel would provide a great high-quality education without all this homework so we could have a life - I want to know: what right do they have to give my child all this homework?

Seriously, what is the *legal* framework for this? What is the legal basis for state requiring me to put my child's time and autonomy, from first waking to going to sleep, at the school's disposal in order to expect a high quality public education?