Posted on 10/20/2015 7:10:19 AM PDT by MichCapCon
Despite a new attendance policy that could see truant students and their parents actually prosecuted in court, more than two-thirds of the students enrolled in the Detroit school district are still classified as “chronically absent.” This is defined by the state as missing more than 10 school days in a year.
Detroit saw 67.1 percent of its students deemed chronically absent in 2013-14, the latest year data is available. The statewide average is 25.5 percent. Even the troubled Education Achievement Authority, the state office given oversight of Michigan’s worst-performing individual schools, experienced chronic absence in just 23.7 percent of its students.
Other troubled school districts also struggle with student absence. In Benton Harbor, 58.9 percent of students met the chronic absence criteria. The figure was 52.7 percent in Flint and 49.9 percent in the Pontiac school district.
Detroit's students could be missing far more than 10 days of school as the state report doesn't quantify the total amount of missed school days. In 2013, Keith Johnson, who was then president of the Detroit teachers union, said data showed the average high school student in Detroit Public Schools missed 46 days of schools in 2011-12.
“Kids are not showing up,” said Gary Naeyaert, executive director of the Great Lakes Education Project. “It’s very difficult to learn if you are not in the classroom.”
The new Detroit Public Schools truancy policy calls for possible home visits by state agency workers when a student has six unexcused absences. After nine unexcused absences, students and their parents can be charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
The new program was launched in the 2013-14 school year but doesn’t appear to have had much impact so far. In the year before that, 67.5 percent of DPS students were classified as chronically absent.
John Rakolta, a co-chair of the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren, believes a multipronged approach is needed. "The state controls Detroit Public Schools, so nothing about this is easy," he said. “The DPS attendance issue is heartbreaking, and it is something that charters are dealing with too.”
Rakolta continued, "This is exactly why we need the governor, the mayor, and pragmatic lawmakers in both parties to come together to find a solution that gives all kids a fair shot. The fix is complicated. It likely involves comprehensive transportation, dealing with aggressive suspension and expulsion rates, addressing health and safety issues, and helping parents be a part of the solution. It’s on all of us to get this right and get kids back into quality schools in Michigan’s biggest city."
DPS and Wayne County Prosecutor Office officials didn’t respond to emails and voice messages seeking comment.
They’re not “absent”, they are presence challenged. They are undocumented scholars.
Cut off their welfare payments until they get up in the morning and get their kids to school. The taxpayers will pay for their free breakfast and free lunch. We are sick of sharing our paychecks with ignorant parasites whose only achievement is producing another generation of ignorant parasites.
Uh oh, government funds are on the line, better find some way to hide this
America needs special schools for students who want to learn, the hell with the others.
*Girls/women HAVE to stop having babies out of wedlock. That goes back to values supposedly inculcated into TWO-YEAR old children.
**Pastors HAVE to risk their jobs and preach on the sixth commandment, the "sex" one. It's NOT simply adultery. It has to do with all sexual conduct.
***The government, local, state and federal, HAS to stop rewarding that behavior. Since the wallet, purse or back pocket is EXTREMELY sensitive to most Americans that HAS to be the place hit the hardest.
Just a brief opinion.
Exactly. The fact that the kids don’t show up is not an issue for the school. The fact that someone found out and it jeopardizes their funding is.
Why are they picking on black students?
So... what’s the state paying per student per year who is actually attending class?
Yeah, prosecution is a waste of money. Start cutting off the various forms of welfare and the parents will suddenly find a will to get their kids into school.
The crazy thing is that Detroit actually has some top notch charter schools to choose from.
In all fairness to the parents, I wouldn’t send a kid to a Detroit public school either. Privatizing and chartering every school in the city would probably lead to greater attendance. Those who still wouldn’t attend are lost causes.
Of course, when they do show up it is difficult for the responsible students to learn.
For many of the chronically absent school is a waste of time. They are low IQ, disruptive and poorly motivated. The taxpayers will end up supporting them.
LOL!!!!! Great (if not brilliant) comment.
Back in the day not showing up was not an option. Short of a verifiable emergency you had better not miss a day of school. Nowadays, attendance seems to be optional.
I bet that's isn't the same.
So that’s why they don’t learn. Not because those evil rich White people oppress them.
This, THIS is what Moosechele and Barack should have been addressing for the past seven years, not how many calories are in a school lunch.
Detroit kids are onto something. Public school’s a waste of time. Every parent in every school district should be urged to keep their kids home until the public school system collapses.
Education Achievement Authority
*************
Ever notice how bureaucracies, agencies, and government programs with fancy names never achieve what their name implies? I’m sure this agency is no exception to the rule.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.