A few days ago, I went to my 10-year-old daughter's band concert. It was a great evening, and after the show a few parents told me they were surprised I'd made it, considering my schedule -- which got me thinking. To me, it was unfathomable that I could have something more important to do. This was my child -- I was supposed to be there. There was nothing more important I could do than be supportive as a dad.
Somewhere during the course of our national dialogue, our expectations for parents have lowered, particularly for fathers. Today, I want to challenge every father to step up. If we want strong schools and strong communities, we need more dads involved.
Young people know how important it is for dads to be involved in their lives. As I travel the country and talk with students, some of them tell me that their lives would be totally different if their father was around.
The statistics on this front are staggering. Almost 24 million children -- one in three -- are likely growing up without their father involved in their lives. Those statistics are even higher if you look at the numbers inside our communities of color. That absence puts much too great a burden on our strong moms and teachers. Everyone is trying to do their part, but when dad is not around, we are all playing a man down on the team.
We know that increasing parent involvement, particularly the involvement of fathers, is key to improving schools and communities across the country. As we work to drive down drop-out rates and increase graduation and college completion rates, fathers have an important role to play.
Research shows that children do better in school and are less likely to drop out when fathers are involved. Engaged parents can strengthen communities, mentor and tutor students, and demonstrate through their actions how much they value their children's education. Great teachers and principals make a huge difference, but they can't do it by themselves. At the Education Department, we are investing more in parental engagement. We are re-doubling our efforts -- and asking Congress to double the budget for parent engagement programs to about $280 million from about $135 million -- in order to get more dads and parents engaged. We're looking at programs that are already making a difference and scaling them up to help improve more communities.
These efforts at the Department of Education are part of a larger project underway through the president's Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative to help dads connect to their families and to raise awareness about responsible fatherhood. Through this Initiative, the president is lifting up positive examples of fathers and father figures in local communities.
These "Fatherhood Heroes" are connecting with local, community-based institutions like barber shops through the Fatherhood Buzz Barbershop Tour to help fathers get the tools and information they need to participate in the lives of their families.
As the president has said, "Fathers are our first teachers and coaches. They're our mentors and role models. They set examples of success and push us to succeed ourselves -- encouraging us when we're struggling; loving us even when we disappoint them; standing by us when no one else will. And when fathers are absent, when they abandon the responsibilities to their children, we know the damage that that does to our families."
Fathers: we must be there for our kids. Instead of lowering expectations, let's raise them.
Follow Sec. Arne Duncan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArneDuncan
7:47pm
NYC
We can't force fathers to support their children.
What we can do is make sure every child has access to a computer at school, at least. I think that's what should be happening in the classroom to get the students interested and motivated.
Yeah, that'll do it. This nations GDP has tripled since 1973, but the average working person's salary hasn't moved a centavo. Germans work a 35 hr workweek. Americans work longer than anyone else on the planet, 45 to 60 hrs/week, and Duncan would like to see that increase, as would most Republicans. And if all of this depressing news causes fathers to miss their children's events, then lets pile on the fathers for being the demoralized, working-class stooges we know they are. They just need to get right with Jesus.
This nations annual subsidy to JP Morgan is $14 billion. That's the lowered borrowing cost they incur from bondholders because they are officially 'too big to fail'. So, they can afford to be generous and they are, with their salaries.
Until this system is fixed, don't challenge fathers to prioritize themselves. They're putting food on the table, and getting their noses shoved in it both at work and at home.
(The good news is you're only the third bad hire I think of when deciding whether to send President Obama $19 or more than $19.)
I had a client tell me before they were born that I would be an amazing dad. I've aspired to that and like to think I've achieved it. The only regret I have is that at some point this will end. I love being a father and my heart will break when they go off into the world on their own.
Tax churches, bring the troops home, let the banks fail and vote Mike Block in 2016!
Excelsior!