“Stand by Me,” a study of American teachers conducted by Public Agenda (a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City) reports that 76 percent of teachers surveyed believe they are “the scapegoats for all the problems facing education” and often feel that they must teach children lessons they should be learning from parents at home.

“I have to teach them manners, respect, how to tie their shoes, what their last name is, what their phone number is. These kids come into first-grade not knowing that,” said one teacher of her middle-class students. High school teachers battle a crippling lack of civility and respect amongst their students,and 4 out of 10 “spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than teaching students.”

Their sounding plea to parents: Teach basic life skills and manners at every opportunity. Team up with your teachers whenever possible to work out classroom problems. If you don’t model respect for your child’s educators, your child won’t care about listening to them in the classroom.