I'm not a teacher but Ashley Heard is. She was whipped into action (translation: letter to the editor of WaPo) this weekend after hearing about a shooting at Anacostia Senior High School. That said, don't listen to me, listen to her:
Parents: Demand that your children learn. Ask to see their homework, and if they have none, call their teachers to ask why. Find out what your child's teacher is teaching, how she teaches it and how you can help. Make your child's teacher accountable to you. Once, when I gave a student an F, his mother saw his progress report, called and told me in no uncertain terms that I was to inform her when her child did not progress adequately in class. From then on, I spoke with that mother at least once a week. Her son never failed again.??Teachers: Teach your students. If you are unwilling to do the job for which you are being paid, then get out. Our kids' welfare is more important than your right to tenure.
Hard to argue with that.