It could be bothersome for the heavy workers and too much of an opportunity for the odd-balls. It also seems like a way to help cope with a school employee shortage? In Ontario, students have to volunteer 40 hours community service before they can graduate.

I don't see how forcing them to do this can be termed, volunteer. I find this very wrong.

It will never stand up in court, not to mention that the Ohio legislators sure know how to find the fast track out of a job.

I see a problem with it too. What about families that both parents are working? Or a SAHM with 2 young children? That makes no sense.

Well, if you got in trouble at my high school you had a forced "donation" -- hah, what a fancy way to word 'FINE'.

How dare the State try to force parents into having an active role in their childrens education?!

This is a bad idea. Not all parents have a schedule that would allow them to volunteer. I am a single parent and I work an average of 45 hours a week. To levy a fine is outrageous. I would hope a parent would want to volunteer at their child's school.

But if you don't have a choice, then you weren't volunteering, so you'd have to do 13 MORE hours, and you had to do that too, so you'd have to do another 13 hours, and that was required to make up for the last ones, so you'd have to do 13 more.... *head explodes*

If I weren't already homeschooling, that would be the point at which I would opt out and bring them home.

It is an extra $100 tax that you can avoid by doing community service. I guess that doesn't sound too good either. I do support the encouragement of participation, but this is not the way.

WTF!! Some parents work more than one job. Some parents work full-time. Do they think every family has that kind of time? I'd like to see those legislators do it. I bet they don't even have time. Besides, I think this law might be a wee bit unconstitutional.

I'd be telling them real quick that they can kiss my ass. :-)

I love the volunteer part. Parents need to take more of an active role in their child's education and not just complain about things. however "buying' your way out is a load of crap. That forces low income families to put in time when others can just drop the school a dime. If volunteering is mandatory, it is for everyone. And don't give me that garbage about the parent's are too busy. Bust for what, avoiding their child's education. Volunteering happens in a number of ways people, not just during the school day (camping trips, dances, fairs, sorting papers, etc.)

That sounds Illegal to me .... Then what happens IF they decide to raise it to 20 hours ? 30 Hours ? etc ..... I thought the TAXES paid for education not indentured servitude from parents .... Sounds like Ohio has gone crazy since I left ...

That is sounds like slavery.

There were 800 kids in my graduating class. Who's getting paid (and with what money?) to organize 800 sets of parents per grade, per school, and assign them tasks that take only 13 hours to complete? That's a LOT of hands in the way.

A better idea would be to offer tax incentives to volenteering parents, not punish them.

It sounds sort of doublespeakish to me. I'm all for parental involvement in public education, but not by force.

Not really.

Hmmm - now what can be wrong with it? Is it that volunteering should be a voluntary act rather than an enforced one? Is it that the parents may not have the skills required in the school district? Is it that (where I live anyway) all adults are required to be Police checked before working with children, and exposing children to a range of parents could expose them to danger? (even paedophiles can be parents!)? Is it that many parents tend to work during school hours, and would have to use their vacation time to complete their voluntary obligation? Is it that the state is responsible for funding education, and this is just a cheap way of gaining extra labour for free? Is it that this scheme removes from schools themselves the ability to choose their curriculum - if they must rely on volunteers to provide certain functions? Is it that in using volunteers (imagine a school with 2000 students, each with two parents, therefore each parent doing the equivalent of 2 days a year in the school calendar), jobs which could be carried out by paid workers will be redundant? Hmmm... those are just my initial thoughts

1) It sounds illogical to have people fined for not doing what is supposed to be a free choice. But I find it an interesting idea to try to involve the parents somewhat more. 2) "Papp Taylor said the legislation is unfair, especially to parents already burdened with more than one job. People volunteer because it gives them pleasure, not because it is required of them, she said. House Bill 519 was introduced by Rep. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat, and co-sponsored by six other lawmakers including Rep. Stephen Dyer, a Democrat from Green, and Rep. Barbara Boyd, a Cleveland Heights Democrat." "Dyer said he co-sponsored the bill because he believes in the spirit of the legislation. He acknowledged that the measure may have to undergo revisions in committee and said he doesn't want it to become overly burdensome for parents. "Ensuring that parents play a vital role in their children's life is the reason I signed on to it," Dyer said. "There are plenty of studies out there that say children whose parents are involved, do better in school." School districts would have to offer a three-hour orientation seminar for parents before they began volunteering. The seminars would include tips for helping children succeed in school. Each school district would adopt a policy describing volunteer opportunities available. Those could include tutoring, participating on school or district committees, assisting with extracurricular activities, chaperoning field trips, clerical work and lunchroom or library duty. The bill also requires school districts to create a mentoring program for students. All mentors would have to undergo criminal background checks and complete an annual training course developed by the school district. Robert Boynton, the Amherst schools superintendent, said he worries that the legislation would become another unfunded mandate. He supports the need for parent involvement, but is wary of the method. "Legislating volunteering doesn't sound logical to me," he said." Source and further information: http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/04/vol.html