JUST SAYIN’-No question: Education starts at home—right at birth (if not before). It doesn’t matter the economic or social status or the level of education, every parent must take parenting seriously—from the beginning.
But good parenting can only go so far. Thus, schools and what they impart are left to fill the spaces in education that cannot otherwise be provided by a parent alone. Our leaders in Sacramento and all the way down to the local school district level are continuously working on new and improved ways to address the many education issues that confront us today and attendance is one of them.
Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra is quoted as saying, “Chronic absence from school, even in elementary school, is one of the most accurate predictors of later high school drop-out, and dropping out has enormous consequences for the individual, for the community, and for society.”
It is astonishing when one realizes that one quarter million K-5 students in California were chronically absent only last school year—that equates to more than 10% of the academic year. Who can possibly question that appropriate action must be taken now to address this critical, ever-growing, and challenging problem that plagues our children, their families, our schools, and society in general?
There are already some laws on the books that demand higher attendance standards, but they don’t go far enough. Sufficient funding and adequate guidelines are not presently available for follow-up and follow-through. Therefore, in order to enhance what current laws mandate and what formal education can accomplish, Bocanegra (supported by State Attorney General Kamala Harris and so many others) introduced a bill earlier this year, AB 1866 (Pupil Attendance: California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, otherwise known as CALPADS).
CALPADS itself was established in 2009 as a method for meeting Federal requirements mandated by the 2001 No Child Left Behind. Without the linkage of the statewide system that this bill requires, “It is much more difficult for schools to analyze the problem and create effective strategies to address it.”
Those who support AB 1866 have stated, “Truancy and chronic absenteeism have reached epidemic proportions in California. . . . A statewide data collection reporting system would foster more consistent collection and [enhance] use of attendance data.” Keeping accurate records at every school can help administrators learn more about their students’ attendance patterns. What is more, when students leave a school (moving or dropping out, etc.), the receiver school, from the first day, will have useful information on hand when new students arrive and thus be able to assign them the proper classes and auxiliaries they would immediately need.
I have always believed that our high school drop-out rate is a bit skewed on the high side because the current system may be tardy or even derelict in providing needed information in a timely manner. Keeping track of transient students is a challenge all its own but would be a palliated issue once AB 1866 is passed. In the past, the child’s former school is not always ready or able to forward academic, let alone, attendance records. Thus, many children are actually attending school someplace else and are not drop-outs at all.
A statewide connected data system can immediately trace a student’s entry and exit from one school to another. More importantly is the concomitant ability to offer immediate, often urgent, guidance to children exhibiting poor attendance and other behaviors. Frequently, the root of the problem can be traced to the need of an older child to take care of a younger sibling. Sometimes the child does not have the appropriate clothing or is simply hungry. Occasionally, there is frustration from various causes which can inhibit the desire to attend. Negative peer pressure can encourage a youngster to stay on the streets. Too often we are just too judgmental when we should try, instead, to get at the causes with a sense of compassion, sensitivity, and assurance.
Many individual schools and districts have been taking it upon themselves to try to turn around attendance problems. Some offer prizes or other awards. Many high schools will not grant seating privileges for graduation if the senior exceeds 10% absenteeism for that year. That latter model creates a wonderful incentive but waiting to enforce that kind of discipline that late in a student’s life is far too late. Policies that encourage attendance must start in pre-school (I am still working on universal pre-school mandates) and carry through to high school graduation.
In the meantime, what we do at home can make all the difference, regardless of what technologies are available throughout the state. We need to set for our offspring the best foundation that we possibly can (and the amount of money one has at one’s disposal is generally irrelevant to creating that foundation). Interacting every day with your child is so imperative. Speaking and listening. Setting and enforcing reasonable rules. Being consistent. Reading with your child. Being a good role model worthy of emulation. Being fair.
Parents (and guardians) are, indeed, always an irreplaceable part of the equation. Teaching values starts at home—sharing, cooperating, learning how to be a good friend and a good sport. Then there is the importance of keeping a commitment—your word is your bond as well as the need to be on time, to be there, to be relied upon.
Yet, too many parents are enablers—making every excuse in the book for their child’s failings and shortcomings in school. They often “cover” for their truant children by writing “illness” notes to excuse unjustified absences. The notes are pathetic efforts (filled with prevarications) to legitimize what in fact are truancies (and if the parent doesn’t write it, a friend might). And how does that happen? Far too many parents do not have a clue what is going on in their children’s lives: Call me when you get home from school. Is your homework done? Where are you on the project? How did the test go? Show me the results. Let me see your report card. When is the next parent-teacher meeting? They need to want, to demand more than a clue.
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I wish we could hold accountable all those who are not conscientious about their parenting (the onus should not be on the student alone). I wish we could require parenting classes for every prospective and current parent. But I digress. . . .
Right now we need to demonstrate our support for Assemblymember Bocanegra’s bill. It has passed both houses in Sacramento and is awaiting the governor’s signature. This is a significant bill that addresses the attendance problem head on—not just in elementary school but all the way through grade 12. It only makes sense that the better one’s attendance, the better one does in school and beyond. Better-educated stakeholders create a more desirable citizenry from which we all benefit.
So please consider contacting Governor Brown’s office and ask that he sign this bill into law. He only has until October 2, 2014, to do this.
Just sayin’.
To contact Governor Brown, please do one or all of the following:
- ● phone: 213-897-0322 or 855-486-2796 or 916-445-2841
- ● FAX: 916-558-3160
- ● write to Governor Jerry Brown
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814
- ● e-mail: gov.ca.gov (hit “contact” button at the top of the page)
(Rosemary Jenkins is a Democratic activist and chair of the Northeast Valley Green Alliance. Jenkins has written Leticia in Her Wedding Dress and Other Poems, and Vignettes for Understanding Literary and Related Concepts. She also writes for CityWatch.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 78
Pub: Sep 26, 2014