15 February 2013

Truant Homeschoolers.

It's imperative that the kids are in school.  Even if the children are doing schoolwork at home, it's imperative that they be at school.  Which is why I propose we mandate parents report attendance records so that those homeschoolers don't get all truant-y with it by staying um, home from school.  Which is at home.  Because homeschools are part of the Michigan public education system and reporting homeschool attendance records somehow helps public schools "give the proper attention" to these students so they can "succeed throughout their lives," master 21st century skills and get their own unicorns.

I swear I cannot make this crap up.  Ok, I made up the unicorn part.  But otherwise it's all true.

9 comments:

  1. Well... I believe it is all about the funding. I can vividly recall in grade school the discussions about whether the school could afford to call a snow day one time.. as the school system funding from NYS was based on student attendance records. This kinda seems to be the same deal .. at least based on the last paragraph of the article .. so maybe the reporter just decided to write it up in a more 'emotional/sensational' way.

    Maybe that is..... :)

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    1. Maybe. But I don't see where the district should be reimbursed for a kid who isn't there or even enrolled.

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  2. We've had to report attendance here in GA all along and I've always had a bit of an attitude when sending it out each month. This year, they changed it to sending it in at the end of the year, probably because they know it is crazy, and they are not going to read it anyway!

    I have tried to look at it as "how many days homeschoolers are actively learning" instead of "how many days homeschoolers are present at home". Either way, it's pointless.

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    1. But to my mind the larger point is we are paying taxes for the PUBLIC schooled children and really rules like this just take much needed funding and attention from those kids...

      And whyyyy would they eeeven care about high school seniors. At the end of SENIOR year with your LAST kid, they think you're really going to turn in paperwork like a good girl? Or else what?



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  3. Oh wait.. are you looking for good common sense? Got none here!

    I probably will turn in daughter's attendance sometime in April, as to say, we're done. Go away. Especially since she is 16 and I don't want a truant officer on our butts.... at least till she gets her college ID.

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  4. We have to have proof that we've homeschooled for 170 days. Who's to say I'm lying about actually being at home to school? Don't they think that we go other places to do school too? I agree with you on how ridiculous it is to have to pay taxes to support the public schools when our children don't even attend. It is crazy! With the Senior part, they are just using him as another number to get funding. Whether or not he is in the school, if you have to report his attendance, he is counted as part of the class which in turn helps out the school to get more funding. Weird huh?

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    1. Well, I object to funding the ps system at the levels they have now. BUT. I don't object to paying taxes others benefit from just on general principle, school should be voluntary and through grade 3, yk?

      But why do they care if you get your work done in 165 days or 199 days? How does it benefit the taxpayer for them to check this? Like you said, you could totally fudge the numbers. Maybe some people do. I don't care... it's not like anyone is paying their salary and they are being dishonest to their employer, right?

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  5. "Kids must be in school in order to learn."

    WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????????????

    That is ignorant beyond measure. So, how did my homeschooled for ten years son, manage to keep up with those public schooled kids who had good-enough attendance? How could he rank 10 in his graduating class in public school if he had never learned before entering school in the eleventh grade?

    Sigh.

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    1. I know, right? But I think it is intentional "ignorance." Say "children need to be in school to learn" enough times and people WILL believe it, true or not...

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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