Parents Asked to Pay Up for Missed Class

Townhall ^ | 03/08/2007

[Responsibility2nd]

From the land of fruits and nuts....

[Hoodlum91]

They are already paying for those days in their taxes.

[linda_22003]

I don't know that this is a great idea, but why DO parents pull kids out of school for vacations? My parents would never have considered such a thing.

[CompSciGuy]

Wilson happily gave even more, writing a check for $500. The tax-deductible "donation" was a bargain compared to the private school tuition he and his wife were prepared to pay before they decided to keep their children in public school, Wilson said.

"We saved so much money, we decided it was fair," he said.

Wow!

This guy is so far gone! He pays property taxes, why in the heck would you want to give any more money to the government school? Does he give "donations" to the IRS, the Post Office, or any other government "service"? It amazes me how people feel so beholden to these government bean counters! He's probably already got a "Hillary '08" sticker on his Volvo... Cheers, CSG

[lonerepubinma]

Why does it cost the school district? The teacher gets paid if there are 5 students or twenty students in class.

[Danae]

How about firing a few unneeded "Administrators"? That would save a lot more!

[Responsibility2nd]

I don't know that this is a great idea, but why DO parents pull kids out of school for vacations? My parents would never have considered such a thing.

And WHY would they let on that the kid was at Disney World?

Whatever happened to the time-honored art of lying and saying little Billy was sick?

[olivia3boys]

To avoid the crowds.

[USMCWife6869]

I know we have done it in the past because my husband is not always home when they are on vacation. But our school here offers Saturday school, so if our kids ever went over the 10 days allowed by the state (it may even be federal, I would have to check), they would attend that to make up the absence.

I think it is ridiculous, and very, very tacky, for the school to ask for money for the classes.

[Responsibility2nd]

From the article....In California, under a formula that dates to the 1930s, how much a school receives in tax dollars is based on how many students are in class on any given day.

In Texas also... School districts receive more money from the state based on attendance.

I'm sure it keeps the school districts in line with making sure attendance is where it needs to be.

[Essie]

My parents wouldn't have considered pulling me out of school in the fifties and sixties for a vacation etc. either, but years ago when I taught high school (seventies), kids were pulled out for hunting trips, vacations, etc. I was stunned when I realized this was an accepted practice. Then and today, school is something that is squeezed in between our more serious activities.

[dmz]

Mine neither, but I do confess to having youngest daughter miss a Friday so we could maximize the long weekend visiting her sister up in college.

[taxcontrol]

Simple answer... because sometimes FAMILY is more important than the brainwashing of the state.

[linda_22003]

Ohhhh. Thanks for the explanation. I was raised with the expectation that you go have fun once you've met your commitments, not before. But gee, I guess that would mean longer lines! :)

(Not that I've ever been to Disneyland/World; it never appealed to me as a kid, and I asked my husband once about going as an adult, since he had been; he said that when the park opens in the morning it's like the running of the bulls at Pamplona, and that was all I needed to hear. None for me, thanks!)

[AnAmericanMother]

He probably thinks that when he gets a "tax refund" he didn't pay any taxes!!!!!!

[tearlenb]

I wish my parents would have pulled me out of school for a vacation! I usually had to go to school even when I was sick.

Then again, my school district gave the first and last days of hunting season off, so I can't complain.

[Rio]

I'm paying most of my bills online, so now I have to write a check to the Post Office for the postage that they didn't get?

[theDentist]

Geez, they whine because the classes are beyond capacity, they whine because the classes aren't at capacity, they whine because a kid says a prayer before a test, because more boys answer than girls, because some prissy feels oppressed, because the math books are 4 years old (hello, has 2+2 changed in those years?) and on and on and on...

[BurbankKarl]

Because their kids will learn more at Disneyland for a day than in their school.

[Rio]

Wait. The parents who took their kids out of school for the week received no services from the school during that time. Seems like we're all entitled to a rebate for that time.

It should be paid by the parents of the other kids in the class. They received a better education during that week (better student/teacher ratio), so they should expect to pay more for that.