The final days of summer are upon us and soon many of us will be able to take the
padlocks off of the refrigerators as our kids head back to school.

But what awaits them when they walk back into class?
More overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of teachers,
violence, and drugs . . .
almost makes you want to
keep them home, doesn’t it?

We have heard so much about how vouchers would make it better for some kids, and how the education that children receive in private schools is so much better than at public schools. 

My editorial coleage, Rev. Flake heads a company that restructures public schools into charters and has suggested corporate sponsorship. Even a recent poll suggests that more people of color are in favor of vouchers and school choice.

But what will all this help in the next few days? Not much at all. 

You see these conversations have been taking place for years and the debate will go on for years to come. But most of your kids will be back in the same schools, with the same teachers, the same fellow students, all under the same bureaucracy.

As a child of the public school system, who faced many of the same hurdles that your kids face now, I know it can be difficult. But the education afforded children can also be great. 

For me the difference wasn’t what happened in school, but what happened for me at home.

And I don’t mean just checking homework. 

My parents had a constant interest in my work, even later in my life when some of the work became more complicated.

My mom and dad knew my teachers, even though I have to admit sometimes it was the negative things I did that got them involved.

It was only when I got to high school that I was allowed to somewhat go on autopilot, but by then my study habits were trustworthy (more or less).

The public schools are not day care centers or detention halls. But it seems the first week of school is always a testament to how parents really feel about these institutions that are in control of their children for a third of the day.

A while back when an asbestos scare kept kids out of schools for weeks some of you could be heard saying things like "What am I going to do? I have to go to work."

WORK!!! When there’s a risk of your kid getting cancer? Uh huh.... I see how the priorities could be confused. Look, if you were paying for the education of your kids out of your pocket, you would watch their progress like a hawk, wouldn’t you? 

You would want to make sure they were in a safe environment and teach them skills to get along, so they wouldn’t be thrown out, right?

HELLO . . . You are paying for the schools and the education of your kids. 

It’s not FREE. 

Even people on public assistance now . . . thanks to workfare . . . have to ante-up. So this year, let’s try to act like the parents of kids who go to private school. Go to your kids school. Meet the staff.  Get telephone numbers. Commit to doing something in your kids’ school this year . . . ONE project . . .  ONE fundraiser . . . just one.

As for safety, the walk up Colfax Street to JHS 192 could be treacherous at times, especially in the afternoon when the thugs gathered like vultures to steal and intimidate the younger kids.  I learned that neither my parents nor my teachers could protect me all the time.

The issue of violence in our schools is a tough one.  Short of taking a "No Tolerance" stance, the Board of Education will continue to fail at dealing with wanna-be criminals and kids with no self-esteem.

Kids who exhibit violence towards other kids should be removed from the general population. 

I also believe that if a kid is violent, his or her parents should be investigated by the Administration for Children’s Services. Not all . . . or even most . . . of the bad stuff is coming from the streets or the media. It’s coming from home.

Parents should be held more responsible for what happens to your kids.  If you were told "HEY, you’ll get a million dollars if your kids graduate High School or College with a ‘B’ average and minimal behavior trouble," I’m sure a lot of things would change in a lot of homes.

Even the poorest of families will spend between 50 and 100 thousand dollars on each child they have, over the course of their lives.

Just add it all up and multiply by 18 or 20 years . . . including presents, food, school supplies. That’s quite a bit, don’t you think?

Well as you make similar purchases over the next few weeks, think about ways you can protect your investment and do it for all of us. These kids are our lives and our future . . . we need to pay more attention and be more careful.

— Gary Anthony Ramsay is a weekend anchor
and journalist on the all-news cable station NY1
and a long-time resident of Queens.