There is a lot of education guilt in the air, and it's not doing us any good. Actions make the difference, not fault finding words. We spend a lot of time talking about who's guilty . . . about everything from test scores to children's behavior. The usual culprits are parents and teachers. Check out these traditional guilt makers.

• It's all the parents' fault.

Across the ages, we've blamed parents for just about everything. It's not fair. Parents have a vital job to do, which includes putting across the message about education. This is not an excuse, but we have to recognize that the culture outside the home these days is so overwhelming that even dedicated parents can feel discouraged.

• Parents don't do their job.

Knowing what to do is not always clear. There are the basics of course: children eating and sleeping well, getting to school and on time. Beyond that and here is where some blame may attach: Parents have to, if they don't already, read and talk with children, support the work of the school, help children understand that school is the most important work in their lives.

• Teachers have it easy.

When I came home from school every afternoon in my first year of teaching, I collapsed onto my bed. Teaching is an intensely human experience. It does not fit into a straight line of "you do this and this is what will happen." As the years went by, it got a little easier, but a good teacher is a juggler, at times a magician. We learn how to plan for the day, be ready for the expected and unexpected and try to make every child, every parent feel cared about.

• It's all the teachers' fault.

It would be very convenient to pin education guilt on teachers. But hold on, just think of how few hours of the year children actually spend in school and where they are and what they do the rest of the time.

Inspiring a child to learn is a main job for teachers, but no teacher, no matter how good, can make children learn. I am sorry to report that it is more complex than that. Helping children learn and do well in school is a team effort among parents, teachers, the community and the children themselves. This is an achievement, always in progress.

• Involvement for everyone: a modest proposal.

We are all urged to get involved in education, often defined by going to the school, participating in lots of meetings. Yes, well and good. Yet, sometimes this involvement can seem like just too big a task at some points in our lives. While on the way to this wider involvement, there are smaller, yet mighty actions that we can all do everyday.

It's this: Share with a child a thought, an idea, an experience that builds hope, enthusiasm, and optimism about learning. This personal-scale involvement makes a real difference in education, one child at a time. And it cuts down on wasteful guilt.

The goal for better education is to face problems and try to figure out ways to solve them. Education will always be problematic: that is the way it is.

Finding guilt may feel good at the time and it releases frustrations. But unless accompanied by positive actions, it's just words.

Goodbye, education guilt. Hello, education action!

Dorothy Rich is founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute, MegaSkills Education Center in Washington.