And so many, many times I hear the lament of the teachers in school across the city that their students would be doing better if some cooperation could be elicited from their parents. In fact, as my girlfriend and I sat in front of the TV listening to Mr. Obama's address, we noted to each other how important parent accountability is in all of his lofty goals. Sure enough, he brought it up a few paragraphs later. This, at least, suggests to me that it's not a problem limited to Baltimore City Schools. Not that it makes me feel any better that this is the case.

As much as it seems like common sense to most people, however, parent involvement isn't something that can be legislated. The charter schools have a little bit of protection in that they can make it part of the charter. For instance, parents of students at the Empowerment Academy are required to put in a certain number of volunteer hours, and failure to do so can result in the student not being invited back the next year. But the rest of the public schools don't--and unfortunately can't--have this kind of provision.