Superintendent Marilou Ryder can see that whatever they are doing about absences in her school district isn't enough, so she's trying something else. That's just smart. What do you think?
A story in today's Bee says folks in the Central Unified School District are divided about Ryder's effort to draw attention to the excessive-absence and truancy problems in the district by using one child as an example. She sat in on all the classes for Makel Martinez, an eighth grader at Rio Vista Middle School, when she did not come to school. Read today's editorial on the topic by clicking here.
Some people are saying it "humiliated" the student. Doubt it. Remember, this is a generation of kids who take videos of themselves imitating "Jackass" stunts and post them on YouTube for the amusement of the global community. In middle school culture, missing school is not something that makes you an outcast. Wearing the wrong lip gloss; putting on the same outfit two days in a row; buying "yesterday's" shoes; having a bad-hair day; being too skinny, heavy, tall or short; flirting with the wrong boy; listening to the wrong music; having a hobby your friends don't understand; enjoying your parents in public; hugging your little brother, sure. But missing school? Not an issue.
Now, the parents. Well, all they had to say was the truth -- that attendance is very important to them, that their daughter is an excellent example of a child who never misses a day unless it is absolutely necessary. And on this day, she was very ill from allergies and had a doctor appointment. It certainly wouldn't have been good to have her running a mile on that dusty track if her lungs and sinuses were already compromised with allergy issues. Oh, and thanks very much for all the notes and the gift bag. See you tomorrow.
One of my colleagues makes a good point that it would have been better if the district chose a student with truancy issues rather than someone with excessive excused absences. They might even get a family that would happily make the point to get through to a truant child.
Ryder should keep experimenting. This stunt could use a little fine tuning but it's got people talking. As they say in the concert business, it all starts with BIS (butts in the seats).
I commend her for taking the time to prove how much kids missing school miss out on in the classroom. I am sure she could have found someone with a higher truancy rate than the one she did. I am sure they could find kids hanging out at the mall or Riverpark if they want to crack down. It is sure to get worse as the weather warms. They will stasrt planning trips to the lake.
Stunt is definitely the operative word here. Butts in the seats just translates to money for these folks. It's why they want to give seats to illegal aliens.It's why they want to punish home schoolers. It's why they are against vouchers.Expect more stunts.