Next, on America's Most Wanted - "Have you seen these parents?"
Some parents on Detroit’s west side were hauled into court because their children weren't showing up for school. Prosecutors say that they warned the parents first, and now they are taking more extreme measures. The parents were lead away in handcuffs Monday morning, under arrest for failing to appear in 36th District court on the charge of parental school truancy.
Some of the parents claimed that they and their children were innocent, while other parents had explanations.
One arrested mother, who wished to keep her identity concealed, told 7 Action News, "She was out ill. I did write a note. I started keeping a copy for myself, so I had no problems, you know. Here it is, almost 3 years later, and they’re saying I received a letter in the mail that there was an outstanding warrant for my arrest."
Three years later? Out ill how many times? And, uh, keeping a copy for yourself isn't exactly proof that you notified the school.
Parents who turned themselves in Monday not only got a free ride to the Wayne Co. jail, but they saved themselves the embarrassment that other parents will face when they are arrested at home or on their job.
Sylvia Halloyfield is from the District Department of Attendance for Detroit Public Schools. She explained to 7 Action News, "And as we tried to work with them and their families, it is just not sunk in yet that attendance is necessary for improving student achievement." The warning is out that the district is cracking down on children who don’t attend school, and the parents who don’t keep up with the children.
I'm of two minds about this. Certainly, it helps the city to spot parents who keep their kids at home and abuse them, or who send their sons to school and not their daughters, or who just plain don't care if their kids are in school. On the other hand, given the potential for bureaucratic mixup, I fully expect the parents of some hospitalized or homeschooled kids to be in court very soon.
According to developments back in 1999, one reason Detriot schools started targeting truants and their parents was because of funding issues:
Detroit Public Schools, facing the threat of lost funding, is warning parents that if their children do not show up for school next week, attendance officers will make house calls to find out why...The district will receive about $6,000 for every student in attendance on that day.
Detroit Public Schools interim CEO David Adamany was mentioning the jail aspect of it back then, too. Detroit sees the push for basic skills to be connected to the truancy issue - kids who aren't in school can't learn. If people are just now being arrested, parents can't say they weren't warned.
Posted by kswygert at February 8, 2005 12:23 PM