Truancy: Getting tough on parents may help, but we have to connect kids to schools
Students can’t learn if they don’t come to school. Atlanta intends to turn up the heat on parents whose children miss school. It intends to enforce a tough 2009 ordinance that allows a $1,000 fine and up to 60 days in jail when students skip school .
In writing about truancy policies over the years as an editorial writer, I have found inconsistent and ineffectual policies that kick in too late to deter kids from dropping out. This is a critical issue because today’s dropouts become tomorrow’s prison inmates. Nationwide, 71 percent of the prison population never finished high school. When you look at the arrest records of inmates, the first charge is typically truancy.
Despite all the hand wringing over intransigent truants and indifferent parents, there are some responses that have made a difference. One is having enough social workers. Under the staggering caseloads they now carry, school social workers are expected to be miracle workers. We need more social workers in our schools.
In most truancy cases, parents will get their children to school if a social worker knocks on their door once or twice and mentions the possibility of jail. Once those kids are back in their classes, social workers can concentrate on the chronic truants whose parents can’t be coerced into cooperation.
The consequences should take effect quickly, not when the student has amassed a month of absences and is hopelessly behind. And the consequences should focus on catching the children up in their schoolwork, rather than on suspensions that only push them further behind.
Studies find that while tumultuous home lives contribute to truancy, students themselves put the greater blame on their school lives. They cite irrelevant courses, strained relations with teachers, social isolation and their inability to do well in their classes. Truancy-prevention programs have to figure out a way to engage these kids in school and to connect them to other people in the building. As straightforward and obvious as those goals sound, the designs of Georgia schools actually work against them.
Our schools have grown too big for teachers to know their students very well. It’s easy for kids to slip off the radar screen. And the increasing emphasis on test scores gives schools greater incentives to see these chronic truants drop out than remain in class.
But there are notable exceptions. Many Georgia counties are doing a lot to keep kids on track, from paying home visits to providing rides from after-school tutoring.
Atlanta plans to address the chronic truants by raising the stakes for their parents by enforcing its 2009 law, which was enacted because of the scope of the city’s truancy problem. Almost 44 percent of high school students missed 10 or more days of school last year, up from 40 percent in 2009-10, according to the AJC story. That’s compared with about 25 percent in Fulton County.
The 2-year-old rule has seldom been enforced until now, said Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell, who helped create the ordinance. Mitchell said the goal is to get the attention of parents, to educate them about the importance of good attendance and to help connect them with social programs to ensure their children are regularly going to school.
But critics say the approach is flawed and could cause more worry for families already in distress. “Given the crisis we’re facing in terms of truancy, we could haul droves of parents into court,” Mitchell said. “That is not our objective.”
Research shows that students with better attendance are more likely to earn a high school diploma. But unexcused school absences are a persistent problem in metro Atlanta and across the state despite an array of interventions and deterrence programs.
In Cobb, 8 percent to 10 percent of students log more than 15 absences each school year. In Fulton, almost 25 percent of high school students missed 10 or more days. So far this year, about 8 percent of Gwinnett’s high school students have logged 10 or more absences, both excused and unexcused, according to a school spokesman. DeKalb County, Powder Springs and Kennesaw have ordinances similar to what’s in Atlanta, according to school and county officials.
There’s also punishments built into state law. Georgia students with 10 or more unexcused absences can lose their driver’s license. A query by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found students in virtually every county had their licenses yanked because of missed days. Gwinnett, the state’s largest school system, had the most absence-related license suspensions in 2010, with 2,269 out of a statewide total of 12,974.
After five unexcused absences, a parent can be fined up to $100 and sentenced to 30 days in jail or community service, according to state law. The most severe cases are referred to Juvenile Court.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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85 comments Add your comment
S GA Teacher
December 18th, 2011
9:58 am
I am going to wait and see how well this works out. I have a feeling the parents 1. will not care about paying a fine and will ignore it; 2. manage to stay out of jail; 3. eventually the police will grow tired of going after truant parents.
In other words, this is going to be a huge waste of time and resources because it is impossible to enforce. Watch and see.
mg
December 18th, 2011
10:14 am
Maureen,
You should check into the number of the “truant” students who are in elementary school. A few years ago we saw statistics in DCSS that showed approximately half the truant students were elementary students. These children aren’t skipping school because they’re bored or any other reason given. Their parents aren’t ensuring they are dressed and ready for the bus or brought to school (We won’t even begin to address the on time issue). Truancy in elementary school is a real problem, perhaps if it’s addressed adequately the result will carry over to the middle and high school level.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
10:18 am
“students themselves put the greater blame on their school lives. They cite irrelevant courses, strained relations with teachers, social isolation and their inability to do well in their classes”
Of course the students would say that! You don’t think they are going to own up to that fact that they are lazy, that they are in a gang, that they are being called “too white” if they go to and enjoy school? You always seem to find a way to blame the teacher!
Truancy is one of the major reasons that teachers cannot be effective, just behind discipline in the classroom. At least this law was a step in the right direction. My question is why there has been no enforcement of the law in two years? Does the police department and DA just ignore laws they don’t want to enforce (like muggings at Ga Tech)?
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
10:23 am
Irrelevant courses – all students say that they can’t see how learning European history is going to help them in their daily lives. Now I can agree with trying to teach potential drop-outs Math 1, 2 and 3.
Strained relations with teachers = teach wants me to work and do homework and be quiet and I only want to talk to my buds.
Social isolation = see above – If I appear to actually enjoy school and do good, I am labeled “too white”.
Inability to do well in their classes = I was “socially promoted” so many times that they are trying to teach calculus to somone who can’t even divide and multiply.
Maureen Downey
December 18th, 2011
10:32 am
@mg, I agree that parents are to blame for elementary age kids missing school, but the numbers say the overwhelming problem is with adolescents and teens.
Maureen
Teacher
December 18th, 2011
10:37 am
stupid stupid, make the poor parents poorer
Chris Murphy
December 18th, 2011
10:45 am
I like your proposal, Maureen, for more social workers in the schools, particularly APS. A new Discipline Policy has been developed for MH Jackson HS, and will be rolled out in Jan. Given Supt. Davis’s intent to look at numbers at the system’s Central Office, I would hope that he reduces their numbers (drastically!), and puts more ‘boots on the ground,’ with people in positions such as social workers. Jackson (and other schools) could also use a second teacher in the “core classes,” making sure that students are up-to-speed.
William Casey
December 18th, 2011
10:58 am
Require parents to be “certified” as teachers are. I’d LOL but it’s too sad.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
10:58 am
“stupid stupid, make the poor parents poorer”
You can’t get blood out of a turnip, but you can treaten them with jail time and maybe that would get some of their attention!
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
11:01 am
Maybe instead of fining or imprisoning parents, they should be charged with child neglect and the child taken away from them. Of course you would have to mandate implantable birth control or there would be more where that came from. Child taken away= less food stamps, less TANF, less EITC. THAT would get their attention.
gamom
December 18th, 2011
11:08 am
This subject dovetails right into the School To Prison Pipeline.
gamom
December 18th, 2011
11:10 am
The school environment plays a key role in students wanting to be there. If they are bullied and no one helps the student, why should they want to go to school?
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
11:12 am
“The school environment plays a key role in students wanting to be there. If they are bullied and no one helps the student, why should they want to go to school?”
Wouldn’t want to upset some parents by enforcing rules. Someone’s “momma” gonna come down to that school.
gamom
December 18th, 2011
11:13 am
Sometimes there are also clerical errors OR a student may be marked unexcused, but it really was a medical reason…so in those cases, they should not punish the parents. If a child has a chronic or even short term medical condition, these can be mismarked as unexcused. Parents need to check the records regularly. I have caught mistakes myself and it is like pulling teeth to get these mistakes corrected. It never got to the point of a truancy issue, however If I wasn’t paying attention it could have easily.
Good Mother
December 18th, 2011
11:17 am
More social workers would indeed help and also — make the parents go to school with their children — I mean get on the bus and go to school with their kids and have them do a meaningful job — not as a punishment — but to show them they can do valuable work.
I have a cousin who was truant and dropped out. Both her parents earn their living off of we taxpayers: social security disability and whatever it is they are calling welfare these days.
All she knew is that she was supported financially and her parents never lifted their butt off of the sofa — she was so out of touch with how working families lived that when she asked to come live with me — I told her I couldn’t because I had to work all day and couldn’t care for her — she looked at me innocently and said “but you get summers off, right?”
Poor child. She thought work was like school — we all get summers off. It broke my heart. We got her into a really good foster home with a mom who cared but it was too late for her. Her views had already been set like concrete.
So I agree with getting more social workers in early into the homes of elementary students — and the truancy officer should put the parent on the school bus with the child — and go to school. THere is very meaningful work a parent can do at the school They always need more administrative work and every teacher could use an assistant.
The other option would be to get kids involved in any sport of extracurricular activity that keeps them interested — art, music, radio broadcasting, chess, wrestling — even video game clubs — whatever you can do to get them in the door and let them look forward to something they enjoy.
My children have missed a total of ONE day of school. Just one. They were late exactly one time — under five minutes late.
…but I was lucky as a kid. My parents didn’t give a rip about me but there were a couple of things at school I was interested in and it kept me coming in the doors.
If you’re a teacher please understand there may be things in a child’s life that are not under their control. I missed a few high school football games because I was a cheerleader and I got into trouble for missing the games. What no one knew is my father beat the hell out of me the night before and I had bruises all over and I was too ashamed to show up in that short skirt and for everyone to see the purple and black marks.
You just don’t know. So please be kind and have the attitude of helping, not punishing.
Chris Murphy
December 18th, 2011
11:17 am
A lot of students require a fair amount of personal attention. I agree with Maureen that large-size schools have made it near to impossible for those needs to be met. Kids respond to attention.
Good Mother
December 18th, 2011
11:43 am
What gamom says is very true “The school environment plays a key role in students wanting to be there. If they are bullied and no one helps the student, why should they want to go to school?”
There are fights in the school that go unreported. One or more bullies on a victim so before we kick around the kid who isn’t at school, we need to make sure school is a safe place to go.
My school had a strict policy about wearing certain colors and hairstyles — those that indicated membership in a gang. I wondered about it then but as a parent I completely agree with the policy — keep menacing tensions out of the school and out of the lives of kids.
drew (former teacher)
December 18th, 2011
12:18 pm
OK, I’ll play devil’s advocate on this one:
Once again the NCLB mentality is at work here…God forbid we leave a child behind! With schools struggling to teach those who WANT TO LEARN, here’s a call to focus even more time and resources on those who obviously have no interest in taking advantage of a free eduction. So let’s burden not only the school systems, but the justice system as well, by trying to force education down the throats of those who don’t want it.
Ever tried to make a child eat something they don’t want? Can you make them? You can lead a horse to water, but…
While there are exceptions, my guess is that the vast majority of truants simply don’t want to go to school, and if they are forced they will be nothing but a drain on the system. So for the good of those who DO want an education, I say let them go. Do away with compulsory attendance laws and watch school discipline improve. I wonder how many “chronic discipline” problems would walk right out the schoolhouse door if given the opportunity?
I know it sounds cold, but more resources and effort directed at those who have no interest in learning, the more those who want to learn will suffer. How many teachers out there have a student who is not there to learn, but there to socialize, deal drugs, chronically misbehave, etc.? How many teachers would love to have this student gone, so they can focus on those who actually want to learn? Why would we even want to force this student to attend school?
You cannot force-feed an education on someone. Sure, you CAN beat your head against the wall trying to, but it will be at the expense of everyone involved. I’m just saying schools should focus their efforts and resources on those who WANT TO LEARN; not those who have no interest, no desire, and no intention, to learn.
PS…I’m sure a lot of bleeding hearts out there will come back with…”well if the schools don’t deal with them, the justice system will have to”. And to that, I say, fine…that’s why we have a justice system. Choices —–> consequences! Welcome to reality.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
12:49 pm
Or maybe we should concentrate on even before schools – women who have babies out of wedlock and at an early age just so they can have a baby that loves them – then they grow into a little child that has needs and all of a sudden it isn’t as much fun anymore, it is work to get them up and dressed and at the bus stop every morning. A little birth control would go a long way.
teacher&mom
December 18th, 2011
2:08 pm
I work in a district that will take parents to court for truancy….however, the court will not back the school. The judge will threaten and scare a few into returning to school. The hardcore truant cases will return back to court time after time. Then May will arrive and all is forgotten until around October when the unexcused absences reach the 10 day mark.
And the cycle repeats itself….at least until the age of 16.
Our district also has an evening charter school that does not have a mandatory attendance policy. It is a self-paced program that is designed for the “disengaged, uninterested, and non-traditional student.” Their biggest obstacle….you guessed it…..attendance.
I hope someone finds a solution because it is a huge problem.
teacher&mom
December 18th, 2011
2:11 pm
One social worker per school would be a great start. One social worker per 2000 students is not going to make a dent in the problem.
Public HS Teacher
December 18th, 2011
2:55 pm
We have to try this. It is for the children. The parents need to step up to the plate and be held accountable somehow.
If the parents cannot or will not pay the fine, then give them jail time or community service. Let the court system deal with this now rather than wait for the children to grow up and become thieves or worse.
Public HS Teacher
December 18th, 2011
2:56 pm
@teacher&mom – no more social workers. Just turn it over to the law. Let them take if from there. The school will only need to turn over a list once per week to the law of truent kids. That’s it.
teacher
December 18th, 2011
3:17 pm
The parents in the forty and younger bracket have yet to grow up ( I am in this age).
They think it is okay to check their child out to go to lunch for their birthday, or take an extra day off before a long weekend or not make them go when the kids whine about it.
This problem is especially bad in the elementary grades and schools do nothing about it.
When the kids get to high school, they fail automatically with too many days and wonder why schools are so mean.
Our school has several students and parents with probation officers because of the truancy issue.
Fled
December 18th, 2011
3:36 pm
Like Good Mother, I was pretty much thrown out with the bathwater. My father disappeared when I was eight. Mom absconded to another state and left me alone at fourteen because a fifteen-year-old ought to be able to take care of himself. At first, I thought, “Cool, I can do whatever I want.” However, 90 cents an hour, which was my wage at the time, did not cover my physical needs, and I had no guidance or support at all. I think that’s when I developed the loneliness and sense of impending disaster that has cursed me through my life. I had several brushes with the Law, one quite serious, and had little interest in school beyond seeing my friends and collecting and distributing herbs. The social worker understood enough about my situation, and cared enough, to know that I needed to get out fast or I never would. With her active intervention (I once overheard a fiery meeting she had with an Assistant Principal who wanted to expel me), I became a sixteen-year-old graduating two years early on a fast-track academic program with a D—– gpa. Almost all my teachers hated me, and several recommended including prison time in my career planning. I did no work, was apathetic, was frequently absent, was disrespectful, was stoned, and was completely miserable because my parents had left me alone.
After a year of minimum wage work and poverty following graduation, school did not look nearly so bad. I was accepted into a state school on strict probation through open admissions. They made it quite clear that this was my one and only chance. By the time my class graduated from high school, I had completed a year of college and had a 4.0. Since I knew basically nothing when I entered college, I had to learn everything from scratch. I also learned that I was smart, instead of the dumb*ss I had always been told I was. In the end, I was graduated summa cum laude from a college I transferred to when I understood that having a 4.0 after two years (and having a tale to tell) meant I could go to a much better school.
I won’t sign off as usual because this is an area where I don’t want you to give up. Some (note I do not say all) kids who might seem like, look like, and act like jerks or creeps or who cause you problems, who don’t even pretend to care, might have problems beyond your imagination. Parents who beat them. Parents who abandoned them. Even parents who exploit them for profit. So, yes, as Good Mother says, please, try to help, not hurt. I know it’s hard, but I bet that every teacher knows at least one kid who needs to know that somebody gives a damn. You really might change a life if you do.
With regard to students, don’t throw in the towel. Don’t give up. (I still think you ought to flee, but not from your students.)
Lee
December 18th, 2011
3:37 pm
Let’s see, we’ve gone from school being a privilege, to a right, to now, a mandatory requirement complete with fines and possible jail time.
In the meantime, we’ve gone from no welfare, to the Great Society, to now, complete coverage where we have generational welfare recipients who think sitting on one’s butt and collecting a check is a preferred lifestyle.
We now act surprised when these same non-producers have little incentive to make sure their children receive an education to have a better life than they.
Tie attendence to EBT vouchers, food stamps, Section 8 housing allowances, etc, etc, and maybe you’ll see some results.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
3:53 pm
“Tie attendence to EBT vouchers, food stamps, Section 8 housing allowances, etc, etc, and maybe you’ll see some results”
There you go! Someone is thinking!
Fred
December 18th, 2011
3:58 pm
Lee
December 18th, 2011
3:37 pm
Let’s see, we’ve gone from school being a privilege, to a right, to now, a mandatory requirement complete with fines and possible jail time.
In the meantime, we’ve gone from no welfare, to the Great Society, to now, complete coverage where we have generational welfare recipients who think sitting on one’s butt and collecting a check is a preferred lifestyle.
We now act surprised when these same non-producers have little incentive to make sure their children receive an education to have a better life than they.
Tie attendence to EBT vouchers, food stamps, Section 8 housing allowances, etc, etc, and maybe you’ll see some results.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Just exactly who ARE “these people” you are referring to Lee? Can you provide a list of names? How many of “these people” are there? I know Rush and Neal talk about “these people” all the time but I’m not a neophyte and I don’t take them at their lying word. ESPECIALLY not the drug addict Rush. I want some names and addresses
PROOF in other words, not rhetoric.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
4:03 pm
“Just exactly who ARE “these people” you are referring to Lee? Can you provide a list of names?”
The schools won’t tell you their names. “Privacy act”.
mountain man
December 18th, 2011
4:05 pm
I would be glad to do a free study on the make-up of the students who are habitually truant, and I believe you would see exactly what we are talking about. Low Socio-economic standing is one of the big drivers for truancy. Single mothers.
Beverly Fraud
December 18th, 2011
4:25 pm
“Under the staggering caseloads they now carry, school social workers are expected to be miracle workers. We need more social workers in our schools.”
If there is one group that is given a more COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC expectation, combined with a complete LACK of administrative support than teachers, it’s school social workers.
Why do one think that, unfortunately, it’s going to take THOUSANDS fleeing, like Fled did, to get schools and society to WAKE UP?
roughrider
December 18th, 2011
4:28 pm
We should go back to the old days and just educate the kids that want to learn. We have to fact the fact that if a child does not want to learn, it’s almost impossible to educate them.
oldtimer
December 18th, 2011
5:14 pm
Another attendance concern…when teachers accidently mark someone present when they were not…One time we had one two teachers mark here…3 absent. Turns out he robbed someone and hurt an elderly woman. A few teachers got a big lecture about the importance of being accurate. He was not at school. Fingerprints were finally used.
oldtimer
December 18th, 2011
5:30 pm
For those who say…just turn the issue over to the courts…..That probably will not help. These students need to learn how to care and want to do better. Schools need social workers, but also volunteers. Dads to walk the hall and tell children to tuck in there shirts….moms to bring homemade cookies on test day..when all is said and done. Volunteers to give out pencils the first day, smile and welcome them back to school. Adults modeling good behavior and pride would go a long way. Adults who care enough to sponsor church or neighborhood study groups when there is no one home to help with homework. Adults to monitor the streets when buses stop and let children out. Organize neighborhood groups to do some of this. Let kids know you think they are important even if the sorry parents dp not know how.
Sam
December 18th, 2011
5:36 pm
Insert silly speech from Maureen about how all schools are equally affected by truancy here.
Lee
December 18th, 2011
5:38 pm
@Fred, I thought I gave a pretty fair description of who I was talking about. Too bad the AJC Blog doesn’t allow graphical illustrations, or I would draw you a picture….
Hmmmmmmm
December 18th, 2011
6:14 pm
RIDICULOUS….
Public HS Teacher
December 18th, 2011
6:32 pm
@Lee -
Why do you assume that truancy is a problem with primarily low income families? This is your assumption based on your proposed solution.
In my high school, parents regularly take their child out of school for a variety of things. I had a girl miss one day a week because her mother felt it important for them to have mother/daughter time at the spa! This student barely passed her classes – of course the mother blamed the school and the “bad” teachers.
There are students planning to miss over a week of school before and after the winter break because their parents planned an extended vacation. We teachers are having to do back-flips to provide alternate final exams, assessments, not to meantion how we start the new semester.
There are students that miss 4th period every day because their dad wants to have lunch with them.
There are students the missed the first two periods every day so their mom can cook them breakfest.
All of these kids end up doing poorly in their classes. And, of course, it is the teachers fault.
Go figure.
catlady
December 18th, 2011
6:40 pm
The only part of this the school should control, other than notifying the law, should be to make schools smaller. For all kids, but most especially at-risk kids (poor, single parent, uneducated). We pay up-front in higher expenditures for more schools, or we pay through the rear for more dropouts, crime, unwed mothers, welfare, multi-generational ignorance, etc) It really is that simple. Smaller schools are better sources of involvement for students (and parents).
I don’t buy the “classes are not relevant” balderdash. What 14 year old knows what is relevant? It is the same nonsense when I hear a parent say, “He is failing your class because he is bored.” Malarkey! If he were bored, he would be making 100 on everything and turning it in ahead of time. He hasn’t learned SELF DISCIPLINE. Pure and simple.
It is very sad but I can predict, from my current crop of 2-4th graders, many of those who will drop out. It is the same kids whose parents I have been having conferences with for the last 6 weeks. These are kids who ARE IN CHARGE AT HOME. Their parents have lost control over them at the age of 7, 8, or 9!
Attendance is a marker of discipline, so it is no wonder the percentages you have listed. These are the homes where discipline (for adults or kids) has never been established. Parents have never claimed and defended their authority over their children.
There is no excuse for these types of attendance figures. Fine the parents, remove the kids, jail the parents, jail the kids, whatever it takes, but it is NOT the schools’ role to solve every single problem that comes down the pike.
single parent
December 18th, 2011
7:01 pm
I want to take to task the idea that single motherhood is some part of the cause of truancy. I have raised all my children when they lost their father. My oldest will graduate 4.0, accepted already one of the best programs in the country and the younger children will follow in those large footsteps. Please not ALL single mothers have so little regard for education and there are plenty of parents who think that their angels are owed a senior skip day or a mental health day or pull kids out so that they can take a family vacation out of the area. ( Maybe that is the factor- not many single parents can afford to take their families out of the area ).
Parents who don’t care/don’t know about parenting and parents who don’t value education are the ones to blame.
Truancy: Getting tough on parents may help, but we have to connect kids to schools | International Education News | Renascence School International | Panama City | private preschool, elementary school, middle school
December 18th, 2011
7:04 pm
[...] 2009 ordinance that allows a $1,000 fine and up to 60 days in jail when students skip school.”(more) Comments (0) Go to main news [...]
Starlight
December 18th, 2011
7:47 pm
A few things, children in elementary school that are not going the parents are charged with educational neglect. Youth who are able to attend school ie walk, get on the bus parents do send them but they don’t go are truant. Education foundation starts early., Parents have to believe that it is important for their children to attend school. Now, I believe that SNAP, TANF etc should be tied to education. DFACS should check with the court to make sure that their are no open educational neglect or truancy cases with the court. This would also help the high rate of parents who refuse to show for court, or jump county lines and start fresh.I believe in fines and community servicve if the absences do not decrease.
The school system needs to add more social workers. They could use a tier system and employ BSW social workers to address the truancy/educational neglect work. That would include making contact with the families and helping them with any issues. If the social workers have to file then the MSW Social worker can handle that.
Another option could be for those young ladies that get pregnant while in school can be placed in a special school that is geared toward them and give them a chance to return to school with their baby for a year or so. Many young ladies don’t return because of childcare issues.
This so so much deeper than a parent not taking their child to school. If any of you had your way the parent would be locked up, if you do that then the children go into the custody of DFACS then what?
@Maureen
December 18th, 2011
8:17 pm
Why do you continue to give Lee and Digger a platform to spew their racism on this blog?
em
December 18th, 2011
8:17 pm
Having dealt with more than a few truant students in the classroom, I find this to be somewhat of a conundrum. The bigger question should be what to do with the truant student who is forced to return to the classroom then becomes a disruption. Alternatives are needed for sure but continuously sacrificing the many for the few is not the answer.
Tonya C.
December 18th, 2011
8:25 pm
Wow. It seems like many of these kids needs the FT care afforded in an orphanage, not a public school. Dads walking the halls and moms making cookies? Social workers continuously checking in? I think people here need to be far more realistic about the current resources available in the system. If the truancy problem is so bad for so many then termination of parental rights needs to be seriously discussed.
We need to decide what the goals of schools are, because the duties seem to be multiplying ten times faster than the funds.
Tonya C.
December 18th, 2011
8:26 pm
And I don’t think this issue is limited or even dominated by single parents. I believe it is piss poor parenting, pure and simple.
Rick
December 18th, 2011
9:06 pm
@Maureen
December 18th, 2011
8:17 pm
Why do you continue to give Lee and Digger a platform to spew their racism on this blog?
Only racism I have seen is yours. Low income is not limited to any one race.
doh
December 18th, 2011
11:22 pm
This makes really no sense. According to the LAW, the parents are responsible if children are not in school. However, according to the Department of Education when it comes time to determine if a school makes AYP according to attendance, the SCHOOL gets punished if there are too many absent kids. So what is it, the parent’s responsibility or the school’s? Why don’t you go ahead and report on that.
Responsibility
December 19th, 2011
12:54 am
Why do we have to continue to create more positions (such as social workers) in schools and government entities to ensure that people take responsibility for their own lives? And yes, Public HS Teacher, unfortunately there IS a strong correlation between income level and school attendance. Of course there are the cases of high income parents who take their children out of school on a whim, but overwhelmingly looking at the data of the past 5 years at least (all of which is reported on the OSA website) high poverty schools have MUCH higher absentee rates. We can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend that isn’t a real statistic just because some high income parents take their kids out of school for a “ski vacay”
This issue goes so far beyond school attendance. People don’t take responsibility for their own actions anymore. Too many people have children out of “relationships” (even many many more out of Wedlock)…but having a child is a huge responsibility and entirely too many babies are born to parents (typically single young mothers) who are in no way ready for the responsibility.
Why does NO ONE talk about the growing and extreme rates of african american children born out of wedlock and who then grow up with no father in their lives? This isn’t a racist statement…in fact I care a great deal about the advancement of african americans, but no one seems willing to tackle this issue. AND I can tell you that any educator working in a high minority school can quickly tell you how much the boys need “male role models” because there is no father in the home. We can’t fix this problem until we accept it and discuss it….
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
December 19th, 2011
1:29 am
Responsibility,
You’re on to something. Fatherless children are much more likely to grow into dangerous, feral adolescents.
Of course, bastardy is a problem not unique to any race. The last numbers I say indicated that 30% of children born ro white mothers were born out-of-wedlock. But so long as we as individuals and our society as a whole ignore reproductive irresponsibility, we’ll get much more of it than we and its innocent byproducts need.
Ronin
December 19th, 2011
1:51 am
Interesting: forced education, with a penalty (drivers license) for lack of compliance.
Maureen, your prior post on education track was on point. ‘
The masses are grouped into a class for the teacher to handle. College or trade school, there is no specific focus. Simply, teach to the middle. The top rated students are bored, the low end students don’t care.
Truancy isn’t a problem, if you teach a course that interests the student.
Technical classes (auto repair, HVAC, hair stylist) should be started in 9th or 10th grade in district schools. The problem is, this would cut into the “college” level programs like Lanier Technical School.
For 12 years,kids receive a free education. When they actually need to learn a job skill, they need to qualify for a HOPE scholarship. K-12 schools are failing to teach basis job and financial skills.
Dr NO / Mr Sunshine
December 19th, 2011
6:35 am
Yeah thats the idea. Hire more social workers/waste more $$$. Why not toss the irresponsible party/parents in jail, put the affected children in an orphanage and be done with it.
The State cant solve these lack of character issues.
Sam
December 19th, 2011
7:06 am
I’m really talking about older kids here, but I think it speaks for society in general: you can’t force intelligence on people. Some people choose ignorance.
ScienceTeacher671
December 19th, 2011
7:11 am
It’s not a one-size-fits-all problem, and there’s no one solution.
Some of the chronically truant teenagers are students who have been socially promoted all their lives, and who have never learned the skills they need to succeed in high school. They feel overwhelmed and “stupid” in classes they can’t master, so they don’t attend except sometimes to socialize. These are the students who will drop out without some drastic intervention.
Some of the chronically truant are those who are very bright and are bored by the “teach to the middle” classes, but are not motivated enough to take the challenging classes such as honors, AP, or IB.
Some of the chronically truant know they aren’t going to go to college, and they don’t really like “book learnin’” at all. They would love to be in a system like than in many other countries, where those who don’t have the skills or motivation to go to college go directly to a job or technical school. Unfortunately, that’s not available here. Some of these students actually go to work with family members who are mechanics, plumbers, landscapers, etc. instead of going to school, but they attend enough to keep their driver’s licenses.
Some of the chronically truant have home lives that aren’t conducive to going to bed early and getting up early (think people in & out, adults partying loudly until late, parent(s) working nights and students are responsible for younger siblings, etc.) and if they miss the bus, there’s no one to take them to school. Many of them could possibly try harder, but don’t see much reason to do so.
Yeah, I’ve missed some, but those are the major categories at our school.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
December 19th, 2011
8:19 am
ST671’s comments, as usual, are illuminating. And they’re being noted.
nelson
December 19th, 2011
8:43 am
I would let truants go, no question about it. It frees up space for motivated students.And who knows, truants can find work that is infinitely more rewarding. Which reminds me of a story, this lad went to school every day. The teacher never called on him so he put two desks together in the rear of the room laid down on top and went to sleep. He would have been far better off working some place than being in school. Who is the most motivated student in school, it is the one on the basketball team. That is real motivation,
Pluto
December 19th, 2011
9:15 am
Here’ an idea; make the parents attend class as a surrogate for their darlings and then teach their kids at home? Kinda like home schooling but this way both the parents and kids are learning. Problem solved.
Cosby
December 19th, 2011
9:40 am
Ahh…get the parents involved…but wait, does our wonderful government pay people to have kids with no responsibility..need to look at the source of the problem.
carlosgvv
December 19th, 2011
9:55 am
Sometime ago Fulton County decided to get tough on those who were sent jury notices but didn’t show up at the Court. Then, nothing more was heard from them. This get tough on parents will have the same results.
To Fled from Good Mother
December 19th, 2011
10:06 am
Fled, your letter brought a mountain of tears to my eyes. I am so so so glad you made it through all your challenges. Your note is inspiring. Thank you for sharing it.
Gwinnnettian
December 19th, 2011
10:13 am
Yes, there are many reasons that cause students to become truant, but it all begins in the home! Students from single parents and poor parents who teach values in the home attend school regularly. If you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you know teachers believe the home environment is the one factor we have no control over, but has the greatest impact on student achievement. I think the fines are a little stifrf – perhaps $250 the first occurance and increase by $250 after that. Take it out of the welfare checks and you will get some attention!
Ron
December 19th, 2011
10:17 am
How do you catch up students on the curriculum if they’ve been absent for over 10 days? Why should they still be included in the schools’ standardizing testing results? Some in these posts have recommended alternative schools or similar, and that would be a sensible approach for those students who don’t want to learn all the time (maybe just part-time?). But to reinstate them into the general classroom and expect the teacher to reteach or RTI is crazy!
Hcain
December 19th, 2011
11:13 am
A classroom is like a 10 ft deep swimming pool.
The teacher is the lifeguard/swim instructor.
The students are beginning, adequate, good, and great swimmers that the teacher is trying to move to the next level.
Now, we want to round-up non-swimmers and put them in the pool WITHOUT affecting the others?
I think I’d pull my kid out of the pool!
Good Mother
December 19th, 2011
11:35 am
Responsibility, you asked “Why do we have to continue to create more positions (such as social workers) in schools and government entities to ensure that people take responsibility for their own lives?”
Here is your answer. Please listen.
Because hiring a social worker is a lot less expensive and much better for society than hiring a police officer to arrest the high school drop-out and much less expensive than building a prison to contain the drop-out when he gets there.
It’s very very simple. Please get it in your head.
School and all the expenses that go along with prevention and intervention are much better options and a much smarter choice than incarceration.
Mountain Man
December 19th, 2011
11:41 am
Any child that has missed more than 10 days should repeat the grade (yea, right, like that will ever happen). Lower the age of being able to withdrw from school to 12. Take the money spent on schools and teachers for these people who don’t want to learn and build prisons. Lock them up and throw away the key. If they can’t see that an education is good for them, they need to get out of the way of those that do.
Mountain Man
December 19th, 2011
11:43 am
“Because hiring a social worker is a lot less expensive and much better for society than hiring a police officer to arrest the high school drop-out and much less expensive than building a prison to contain the drop-out when he gets there.”
Problem is, these people STILL end up arrested and in prison DESPITE the social workers.
Tonya C.
December 19th, 2011
11:44 am
GM:
You assume the return on the investment pans out. It usually doesn’t. Quite possible in elementary school, maybe in middle school, but the chances are slim by the time you get to high school. We have pushed prevention and intervention FOR YEARS and the results still leave a lot to be desired. And in the meantime, the kids who want to work intrinsically are being left behind.
How do I know? My husband in now a special education teacher in an alternative school, and before that worked in both the juvenille and adult probation/parole fields. Poor parenting is hard to overcome, and we need to accept that the success rate of doing so without tracking is low.
What?
December 19th, 2011
12:04 pm
MARTA Police do a great job with catching truant students from the DeKalb Alternative School and other DeKalb high schools.
The DeKalb County School Police Department, with its two chiefs, nine detectives, four admin assistants, and almost 200 school resource officers, do nothing to combat truancy. Many in the school police dept. are related to BOE members and Central Office administrators. The department’s performance is simply embarrassing.
The DCSS Central Office refuses to confront parents and hold them accountable. Heck, they instruct teachers that they cannot give a zero for a grade, even if a student refuses to do the assigned work.
The new superintendent has her work cut out for her. I sincerely hope she has the fortitude to make all the necessary changes to the administration and school operations, including the poor performing school police department.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
December 19th, 2011
2:11 pm
What?,
She will need COURAGE in addition to fortitude to accomplish her mission.
@ Tonya C from Good Mother
December 19th, 2011
5:12 pm
Tonya C writes about intevention through social workers “Quite possible in elementary school, maybe in middle school, but the chances are slim by the time you get to high school.”
Of course. Early and consistent intervention is much more effective than later intervention. No one, especially me, is advocating that we wait until high school to intervene.
You’ve stated the obvious and are preaching to the choir.
@ Mountain Man from Good Mother
December 19th, 2011
5:17 pm
MM writes “Problem is, these people STILL end up arrested and in prison DESPITE the social workers.”
These people.
These people?
You mean not YOU. NOT YOUR people?
Every child from every race and every socio economic group and every subculture is at risk. Money, two parents, legitimacy and white skin do not prevent incarceration.
We as a society must do the right thing by America’s children. Democracy depends on educated, intelligent, caring citizens. We cannot grow and maintain a democracy by only caring about YOUR people — whatever group “YOUR” represents.
We need to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
And even if you are a cold, uncaring, rapbid conservative you still need to do the right thing — because it is simply less expensive to society.
Mahopinion
December 19th, 2011
6:21 pm
The only reason the schools “care” about truancy is because it cuts in to their bottom line. No sense denying it. Very day on this blog you read rants from teachers complaining about the rotten kids, indifferent parents, horrid administrators ad nauseum. You think these people would be thrilled to not have to put up with the little juvenile delinquents that are skipping school…
ScienceTeacher671
December 19th, 2011
7:28 pm
Of course, one problem with putting truant students in the workforce is that we already have 10% or so unemployment – adding teenagers to the ranks of those seeking jobs will certainly increase that percentage, unless we find some way to make “jobs Americans won’t do” more appealing to those with few or no skills.
One reason for the expansion of high schools in the early part of the 20th century was to get teenagers out of the workforce, particularly during the Great Depression, when they were competing with adults and parents for jobs.
old school doc
December 19th, 2011
9:27 pm
Was it Brazil that tied family benefits to school attendance and regular medical check ups? If I remember right, that sort of program helped. Instead of punishing sorry parents, why not incentivise (?sp) them- ie to get more TANF your child can have only a few absences, etc…. Especially at the early grades these anti- truancy programs could really make a difference. By high school it is almost always too late.
Tonya C.
December 19th, 2011
9:33 pm
Good mother:
This intervention already exists. And the results are still poor. I might be more jaded because my spouse has tried to show alternatives and has repeatedly been shot down by the majority of parents and the kids. He has hosted career days and brought in speakers even as a juvenile probation officer, and the kids were less than moved. I think people have great ideas, but the reality is that many don’t and won’t give a damn no matter what is implemented.
As a black woman, I see this everyday in my own community. The apathy of the parents in our Title I cluster is startling to say the least. And the hand-holding done to get parents to be active irks me. The school even provides childcare during many of its seminars to bring people in, and the numbers in attendance are still beyond pathetic.
I still say bringing back orphanages should be considered. Better to intervene before poor parenting taints the child than try to resuscitate a damaged being.
@Tonay C from Good Mother
December 20th, 2011
10:54 am
You hit the nail on the head, Tonya. You’re right.
You are jaded.
Career days and speakers don’t address lifetimes of hurt. School counselors need to be trained child psycholigists as the one in my child’s school is.
Thinking that a “career day” is going to help a distraught student is naive. Looks like your hubby doesn’t know what he’s doing.
I dont’ care what color you are, Tonya. It isn’t relevant to the conversation. It doesn’t add to your credibility.
. .
Laura
December 20th, 2011
11:20 am
Go teach in an alternative school for a day, Good Mother, and see how sunshine and roses it is. I dare you not to be jaded. I taught in one for three and a half years, and the only thing that got to any of these kids was showing them that you cared, especially through bringing in guest speakers and the like.
I brought in one of the Tuskegee Airmen to speak. The kids were absolutely enthralled with him and wouldn’t let him off of the stage because they were asking him so many questions. Lots of kids thanked me for bringing him in, because no one at their home schools cared enough to even PRETEND to get someone in there to talk to the students about anything, regardless of the topic.
BTW, our career days helped high schoolers get jobs to get on their feet out of school, but I guess putting those on every day was “naive.”
Before you knock what these people who work with troubled youth do, walk a mile in their shoes. Be screamed at by sixth graders. Try to explain to a twelve year old the dangers of joining the Crips. Break up a few drug deals. Then, why don’t you come back to the forum to show how un-jaded you are.
Laura
December 20th, 2011
11:21 am
“Every year,” not “every day” in regards to the career fairs.
Tonya C.
December 20th, 2011
12:47 pm
Laura,
I no longer pay attention to people like her. They offer suggestions that people have tried, repeatedly in most instances. It’s great to offer advice, but I LIVE this and see it everday. Through my husband’s eyes and experiences, in my neighborhood, and in my own family. I hope for the best, but again…bad parenting is a MONSTER to overcome. Even if you get in the trenches each and everyday, there is no guarantee that all the love and caring in the world will work.
My husband has had his life threatened this year. He has been cursed at and cursed out. Despite the numerous presentations, job shadowing, and support he has offered these students. Good Mother, I am presenting some real facts about how this actually plays out, but whatever. Rubber hits road, and your view is tainted by your experiences. It is great you were the exception, but an exception does not a rule make.
Tonya C.
December 20th, 2011
12:50 pm
And Good Mother:
My husband knows what he is doing. This was just an EXAMPLE of the opportunities he tried to afford the kids who would otherwise never see what they could be if they tried. But nevermind…you love to insult as a defense, and I was the fool to attempt to engage you in a rational conversation.
Don't Feed the Good Mother Troll
December 20th, 2011
1:23 pm
@Tonya C:…”you [Good Mother] love to insult as a defense…” I see you have run into GM on earlier blogs. As trolls do, he/she loves to stir up bloggers with self-righteous insults, as with you in his/her 10:54 am posting here.
She did that on the Dec. 17 blog, “Teacher Residency programs,” where he/she spoke of the APS teachers his/her children had with their illiterate language, and from the prolonged examples it was clear he/she meant “black English”…which many bloggers did not take well.
Yet on an earlier blog, “DeKalb board members to voters: Thanks for SPLOST vote,” GM wrote on Nov. 23, 1:46 pm: “We’ve had this tax for fifteen years, I think. There have been ZERO improvements to my child’s school. They just continue to park another beat up trailer out back to “accomodate” [sic] the students. I don’t trust them with my tax money.” Lies, lies, lies.
GM also includes a personal sob story for every blog topic, as witness his/her 11:17 am, Dec. 19 entry on this Truancy blog. More lies.
People like your husband are to be greatly admired.
Dr. Monica Henson
December 20th, 2011
10:21 pm
Maureen, I couldn’t agree more that we HAVE to engage kids in order to keep them in school. Much of what occurs during the traditional school day is not relevant to learning, unfortunately. A substantial number of the students at greatest risk of dropping out are exposed, year after year, to the weakest teachers in their schools. By the time they get to high school, they are cynical, disengaged, and ready to bolt the day they reach legal age to drop out.
Some students are bored silly by being death-marched through the seat time routine to earn credits. They have to wait on the rest of the class to catch up to where they are, and no matter how well they are able to master material, they are forced into an arbitrary number of days and hours in order to earn credits. This situation is applicable to a surprisingly high number of students. If they have parents who insist on playing the school game anyway, then they are not likely to quit school, but those without strong influence from parents will leave if they can.
The dropout profile is quite complex. There are numerous cases of students who drop out because they have to due to family circumstances, not because they are disengaged academically or socially. Teen parents frequently drop out. Some students quit school to go to work to help their working single mothers put food on the table.
Whatever the case, we have to figure out a way to stanch the flow of dropouts into the school-to-prison and school-to-public assistance pipeline that exists. Giving kids more of the same isn’t the answer. We need new solutions. Hybrid learning environments are one way to offer kids a compressed school day and the ability to move at their own pace. Educational centers that provide learning shifts, online coursework that can be accessed from anywhere…these are the types of changes that can help address the problem.
Frankie
December 21st, 2011
9:10 am
Society has allowed these kids to forget about accountability, the same accountability we remove from the parents.
If i got in trouble at school and my mother or father had to take off work to deal with me…how many more times do you think i was going to get in trouble after i got up off the floor and picked up the one or two teeth that got knocked out inthe process.
NO i am not advocating violence.
Point is the parents do not have jobs, so when Bubba or shenequa skip school, the parent doesn’t care becasue they themselves probably did the same thing as a child.
The rules need to be toughter, and ENFORCED. we build all of these alternative schools and house the these truantkids, require these non working parents to be on site or go to jail and the kid goes to foster care or to jail also.
For workning parents make them miss as many days as their child missed school. I know it drums up a whole lot more issues, but you gotta start somewhere.
Addind Social workers is a step, but these social workers have issues to and too many cases for one person…
Don’t have allthe answers but holding the RESPONSIBLE PARTIES ACCOUNTABLE IS A START….
Ole Guy
December 23rd, 2011
12:22 am
A few buds and I decided to skip “Ole Mr So-and So’s” class, scurry over to the gas station, across from school, for a Coke, and get back in time for the next class, the teacher of which was not to be considered a “pushover”. We made it back in time, feeling smug in the knowledge that we had “gotten away with it”. Mr “Hardsix”, the teacher who was known to take no shux from no damn kids, directed us to report to Mr “So-and-So who, closing the door, unceremoneously wailed hell out of us, and sent us back to “Mr Hardsix’es” class.
The three of us boneheads, that day, realized a new-found respect for both “So-and-So” and “Hardsix”.
N. GA Teacher
December 23rd, 2011
11:17 pm
Schools can’t solve the truancy problem, particularly in high school. All they can do is call the parents, who usually are unavailable by phone or just apathetic when you DO reach them, but occasionally you get perfectly good parents who simply were unaware their kids were skipping. One parent I called was unaware his girl had skipped 12 days! This good parent apparently had a showdown with the kid, who the following day entered the classroom and raged at me for “telling her father” and “ruining her life”!! I dryly replied that I was just doing my job, which is true. I was appalled that our attendance clerk did not make the call sooner!! After talking this over with many students between classes and at lunch (I would never veer off the standards in class, of course!), I became convinced that he best thing schools can do is offer a more compelling curriculum. Certain kids love construction class, and drama, and Band, and Art, and agriculture and computer apps. Why are we hammering them with so many traditional (for who?) core courses? It is a disgrace that just one semester of physical fitness is required to graduate. Kids, especially Title I kids,who end to be the dropouts, need more exposure to life skills: occupational, social, cultural, etc. We need strong coop programs that require them to continue success in a half-day of school while they work the other half. We need more flexible scheduling. Why not offer an extra period each day? In other words, instead of making every kid arrive at 8 a.m., a truancy and tardy nightmare, allow kid to select a 3:00-4:15 class. Teachers have to stay that long after school anyway. Our teaching load could be the same- our hours could just be rearranged, with our usual before-and-after-school times swapped with an extra planning period in the middle of our days. In addition, the state needs strongly-enforced laws that tie a valid drivers license privilege to truancy and passing grades.