An alternative view: state taxpayers pony up thousands of dollars a year to educate children. That translates to this: this woman was wasting other peoples’ money plus she was assuring the same taxpayers would be paying her kids’ welfare or their arrest, prosecution and incarceration. I’m sorry she died, but I have a unique view: for five years I was part of the “juvenile justice” scam as a probation officer for serious offenders. 100% of the rapists, robbers, burglars and murderers I dealt with had a first referral for truancy in elementary school. For 21 years I was a public school administrator. Our district had a cooperative agreement with the county prosecutor for a program like the one in the story. It was a resounding success. Attendance rose, grade point averages rose, graduation rates rose; daytime burglaries, assaults, car thefts and shoplifting dropped drastically. School discipline problems did not rise. Again, I’m sorry she died but she isn’t a saint or a victim. All she had to do was get her kids up and on the bus. That isn’t rocket science. The school would have fed them two meals and dropped them off in the afternoon so she would be free to do whatever the hell it was she did during the day. As for the “she’s poor” argument: there’s a slight risk I’m wrong but no risk I’m being rash here - she was getting taxpayer money every month for each kid, food stamps, WIC and maybe subsidized housing.
I became a single mom when my son was a teenager. I dropped him and the neighbor off at school every AM. I found out that they did not enter school but found a way home and played games all day while I was at work. So I went home and caught them.
They did it again a few times (that I know of)even though they were disciplined and after that I just called a truancy officer to come to the house. I could not control everything he did; his dad lived hundreds of miles away and I had to work everyday. I did the best I could do under the circumstances.
BTW, he makes more money now than anyone else in the family even though he always hated school.