Push for Better Student Attendance

My initial reaction to this article is... wow!  To think that school districts need to resort to some sort of incentive to raise attendance rates is mind boggling.  I don't understand how parents can allow their children to skip school for things that can be avoided.  Understandably, some doctor appointments can be tough to schedule for after-school hours when everyone wants the same time blocks, but when parents pull their children from school to take family vacations, I think that is ridiculous in the parents' way of thinking.  This type of absence from school is completely avoidable with better planning on the part of the parents. There are many days in which the children have a break from school when family vacations can be scheduled. 

Recently, in my kids's school, they had a Walk-A-Thon for a fundraiser.  The more money they raised, the longer they could walk around the school track during the day.  As soon as their raised funds exhausted the time-frame allowed, they were instructed to join in the classroom.  One of my daughter's friends was allowed to skip school that day because it would have been a non-instructional day for her.  Personally, I have a problem with the girl's parents allowing her to skip school for that reason.  What are they teaching their daughter about: 1) the importance of community service for the fundraiser, and 2) that every day of school is just as important as the next.

Schools that receive funding based on their attendance rates rather than enrollment numbers have the worst set-up.  By using this type of funding requirement, schools are asking children who are not feeling well (with stomach aches, fevers or whatever) to show up for the beginning part of school so they can be counted as in attendance.  These schools are putting healthy kids and teachers at risk of becoming ill also.  We all know when we are employed and have a sick co-worker, we ask them to stay home until they are feeling better.  The same should be applied to school-aged children. 

I have mixed thoughts on the Saturday school idea.  While I can see the option being open to those that have school anxiety or bullying issues during the normal school week, I also wonder how the school budget is affected by this additional day of instruction. 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-09-03/education-attendance-incentive/57561242/1