Posted on 03/30/2006 4:27:19 PM PST by BurbankKarl
Local school districts whose students participated in walkouts stemming from protests over proposed federal immigration laws likely will lose some state funding, the state schools chief said Thursday.
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell clarified the state's position on the walkouts in a letter sent out to county and school district superintendents.
"As you know, the California Education Code provides that school funding provided through Average Daily Attendance is determined by the actual attendance of students in schools," he wrote.
There are ways to credit attendance "during times of emergency," but O'Connell said the walkouts don't qualify under the Education Code.
"I would be reluctant to approve such waivers," he wrote.
On Monday, an estimated 36,000 students from across Los Angeles County protested a House bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., cracking down on illegal immigration by making it a federal offense to enter or remain in the country illegally.
The U.S. Senate is debating immigration legislation this week.
About 8,000 LAUSD students either skipped school or walked off campus on Tuesday, despite lockdowns and rainy weather, and about 100 Westchester High School students walked out of school Wednesday but were picked up by buses and returned to class within the hour.
School officials have said that truant students could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will issue citations to truant students, meaning fines of up to $200 and 20 days of community service.
O'Connell said in his letter that to qualify for a waiver there must be a "material decrease" in attendance due to "fire, flood, impassable roads, epidemic, earthquake, imminence of a major safety hazard as determined by the local law enforcement agency, or a strike involving transportation services to pupils provided by a nonschool entity."
LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer was not immediately available to comment on O'Connell's remarks.
Wednesday, Romer said districts receive state funding of about $28 per day per student who attends school. About 8,000 LAUSD students were absent on Tuesday, amounting to about $224,000 in funding.
According to O'Connell, the state Department of Education has heard reports that some schools are considering closing down completely to get ADA funding, but he warned that he is also "reluctant to approve waivers under this scenario."
"While I am pleased that students are engaging in civic debate and exercising their right to free speech and assembly, we must encourage them to enjoy these hard-fought liberties in ways that will not hinder their or their classmates' education," the state superintendent wrote.
"I know you have already shared with your students the fact that missing school not only impacts their education, but also affects school funding and unnecessarily expends precious local public safety resources."
Of course all the teachers that went with the students to 'ensure the students safety' won't be getting a dip in their paycheck....
I hope they stay out and save the state even more money. Education was clearly wasted on them.
Can't they just add the days to the end of the year like we do with snow days?
I think this is sooo funny.
It would be equally funny if the teachers who went with the students got docked a day (or however much) of their personal days.
susie
good for them! they deserve much worse for allowing this kind of thing..
Yea, reluctant today, but he's a lib, so of course it will be approved when the time comes.
Teahers.
They're the key factor in all of this that I think is being overlooked.
How did these kids even know about this H.R. I know they were text messaged and everything, but I doubt that was the deciding push.
I firmly believe that the teachers, a whole lot of teachers, told these kids what this was all about (Of course, only from thier very slanted viewpoint), and encouraged them to walk out.
In the coming days, I bet we hear about such teachers.
When I was in school, a student wouldn't dare leave the classroom without permission from the teacher. Thatis, unless they didn't care about being punished. Even then, only one or two would've had the gumption to do it.
No, this was just another grand play against this country, brought to you by the Teacher's Union.
"... and about 100 Westchester High School students walked out of school Wednesday but were picked up by buses and returned to class within the hour."
It is great to see my alma mater in the news.
The LAUSD will not suffer this loss of funding. Some flimsy excuse will be used to substantially decrease the ADA loses or the loses will be forgiven.
Keep your eye open. The LAUSD contains almost 1/3 of California's legislature and is the driving force in educational spending in California. The LAUSD was the organization that convinced the state, in the 1960s, to restrict local funding of schools and instead, redistribute the combined tax wealth of all of California's counties to school districts on the basis of enrollment.
I'll be darned---I didn't know LA had year round schools.
In Massachusetts it is 185 days so they can tack on snow days at the end of June.
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