I agree wholeheartedly. And in my experience, it makes a massive difference in achievement levels. I think that's the primary reason why many private schools can produce students that average far higher test scores across the board at a fraction of the budget. The parents are far more vested since they're shelling out big bucks for that education. That's also why I don't believe in the whole "throw more money at the problem" fallacy as a way to fix our public education system. In then end, it's up to the parents to make sure their children are learning.

A couple of the private schools I worked with required a certain number of volunteer hours for every parent/guardian per semester. I wonder how that would work in the public sector. Obviously the biggest problem would be enforcing it.