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School daze
Submitted by Michael Fielding on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 10:18am.
So it looks like the school funding protest was sort of a bust. But maybe that was a good thing ... after all, the number of students who skipped class to head up to the north suburbs was minimal - meaning that all the hype about massive amounts of students skipping class was just that: hype. What do you think?
You points were all valid. I only wished the media was more objective when they covered this farce. To purposely keep a child out of school is not only against the law but a disgrace and disservice to the child's welfare.
So are these counted as unexcused absences? 7 more and they all have to go to summer school! Brilliant!
Comment: Children or
Submitted by Marie V. on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 2:54pm.Children or Politicians....who is really benefiting from a CPS boycott?
I am glad that the school boycott was a bust. I am a very concerned parent and teacher. What type of a message are we sending our children, that it is OK to boycott school.
I am also very upset with the media because of the one-sided point of view that everyone seems to be taking, and that is that this is some how a good idea??? I could not disagree more.
I understand that people are upset with how the state funds our schools, but boycotting is not going to help the situation, only hurt it. In order for schools to receive funding for the students, the students must enroll AND show up to school, especially that first day. Otherwise, the schools will lose funding. I understand that some of the media have actually mentioned that fact - but only in bits and pieces here and there. How far into the newspaper do you have to go to read that little but important fact?
The state looks at the number of children actively attending and then gives money based on that number. Not to mention it is illegal for a parent to keep his child at home and not enroll him in school and make sure that his child attends school everyday unless he is sick/ill (not sick of the system). As teachers, we can actually call the police to have the parent arrested in this type of situation.
It sounds to me like this is some type of a political move of Senator James Meeks to make a name for himself and not really a movement to help the children as the media would like everyone to think.
One more thing: With overcrowding in our schools, it is vital that the children show up in the first week so there's an accurate count of students so the schools can hire enough teachers to serve each child. After the school year starts, if you suddenly get 20 more students, well, you've just got 20 more students to teach. You're out of luck - the state won't give you more money to pay for the teachers.