New school policy: "You play, you pay"
From blog reader, Kristy:
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - Tired of parents pulling their kids out of school for a ski trip or a visit to Disneyland, the local school system is billing them for the missed class time at $36.13 per day.Doesn't that seem a bit bizarre? I mean, no matter whether we use it or not, we already pay big bucks with our tax dollars for the largest government welfare system in America (as my husband likes to call the public education system), and now you get charged for going on a family vacation a few days a year? As if the $6,000-$10,000 a year per child in the system is not already enough.
Read the whole article.
posted by Crystal Paine at 10:00 AM
20 Comments:
"School officials said the purpose is twofold — to discourage parents from aiding and abetting hooky, and to recoup money lost to absences."
While I don't agree with their stated purpose of charging to recoup money, I agree with their purpose of discouraging parents from taking their kids out of school.
I've seen my mom, a teacher at a small Christian school, spend so much extra time putting together a week's worth of homework for a student in her class who is going on a cruise, to Europe, etc., with his or her family in the middle of the semester.
When I was in school, no one was absent unless they were sick or there was a death in the family. A family might have left a day early for vacation before we got out for Christmas or Spring Break, but no one ever took a week off for an additional vacation.
Do parents not value their children's education anymore?
I hear that! I wish there were a voucher system in more places. If you have to pay for your kid's education, you should be allowed to choose it!
With the restrictions now days for how many times a child can be out of school without failing,I am surprised people pull their children out for vacations,the same people probably send their children sick to school.
On the other hand I wonder if the school district requests for teachers who take vacations during the school year pay for the sub that they hire to replace the vactioning teacher.
One does have to remember that there are lots of days off in the calender to use a vactions for the family.
Why does your husband call the schools a welfare system?
Hmm...I went to public school, and I turned out just fine. The argument that it is a 'welfare system' is bunk. Public school kids score higher on tests, are more inclined to higher education (which I know is a controversial topic here, but bear with me...), and overall, benefit from the system, PROVIDED that their parents support the educational system. I pulled through high school with a 4.0, college with a 3.8, and now have a 4.0 again as a masters' candidate. I doubt had I not gone through this system, and with God's grace, that I would have been as successful educationally speaking as I have been. I'm one of the first in my large family to go to and graduate from college.
As far as paying back your school district? If I was a parent who received that letter, I'd raise a fuss. Sure, this is happening in an affluent town. If it happened in my town, parents wouldn't be able to pay that, especially after going on a vacation that most likely will be the last vacation the child takes until a Spring Break work trip or their honeymoon. We pay enough into the school system already that this shouldn't even be an option. Sometimes, the middle of October is when the family can afford to go to Disneyworld, or on that cruise. Sometimes mom and dad's schedule doesn't permit any other time. And as far as doing homework on vacation? That wouldn't happen in my family. We took one vacation to Disneyworld, and my teacher tried that with me. My mother contacted her and told her in so many words that I'd do the homework before we left, or after, but not during. That was the point of vacation; to give my overthinking little brain a much needed break. I'd never allow my children to do that on vacation; they just wouldn't be focused on that homework.
uThe logic behind this mystefies me- if the children are absent for whatever reason, they're not receiving anything from the district that day, so the state doesn't pay the district for that child for that day. Why would the parents be obliged to pay? Why would the district feel entitled to the money?
It's like if I shopped at a different grocery store and my regular store sent me a request for the money I spent elsewhere. The economic principles behind this seem more than a little screwy.
Andrea, Tammy, et al: The reason we consider the public school system to be a government "welfare program" is because the federal government is not responsible to educate its citizens. The public education system is outside of the parameters set by the Constitution for the federal government. The government is providing a service to its citizens, “free of charge,” (paid for by your tax dollars and mine) which is no different than any other social welfare program. The federal government puts strings on all money that they give to the states. Thus, they regulate education by forcing the states to adopt those regulations as a condition of receiving the funds. Think of all the money which would be freed up if the federal government did not take on the mammoth task of trying to regulate education and educate all these children.
This is not to say that one cannot go through the public school system and excel, nor that there are not teachers in the system who are trying their hardest to do what's best for the students, it is just that the system as a whole is failing. Trying to give children a conveyor belt education will never work well for many children. All children learn differently. You cannot have a one-size-fits-all government program which will be in the best interest of all children. Usually what happens is the catering to the lowest common denominator.
Now, maybe I should be quiet before I end up really making a lot of enemies. :)
Another thing which I wanted to mention: Maybe this isn't true for all families, but when we took family vacations, it was a very rich time of learning. We stopped at museums and historical markers, learned the history of the states we visited, and so forth. It may have been a vacation from structured school, but it wasn't a vacation from learning or education.
I understand that teachers work very hard and that it is probably frustrating to them for their students to miss school, but do people not believe that education can take place outside of a classroom anymore?
Crystal, I just wanted to add that you're not alone in your sentiments. I won't go into it too much, as it is definitely a fiery debate, but I was appalled by the article and the notion that parents would owe a school district anything for taking their children out in order to spend time together as a family, and very often providing their children with a rich educational experience through the travel, vacation, etc. Personally, I thought that it was just another way that government undermines the family today, by discouraging vacation times for families who have chosen to use public education. These are the very families who desperately need this time together as a family and they should not be penalized for taking it! The reality is that many fathers just do not have the flexibility to take vacation time whenever they want, particularily those in a union setting or who work in a very seasonal type job (like my father, who could never take summer vacation time when I was a child, but rather got all his time during the winter).
Furthermore, I agree with you about the welfare aspect of the public school system. I personally went through the system my entire childhood and I commend many of the teachers and professionals in the field, for the way that they pour themselves into truly caring for their students. However, the school system is overloaded and cannot bear the demands that it's millions of students place on it, no matter how much tax money we try to shovel into it. It is similar to the public health system here in Canada, where we have a supposedly "free" system of health care, yet must still pay monthly installments, pay for private insurance either independently or with our employers, and are still dinged for extra costs such as ambulance rides and doctor's notes. If all of our tax dollars cannot keep this system afloat without requiring residents to continue to pay into it for every extra thing they can come up with, then perhaps it is time to rethink the entire system, and I would say the same thing for public education.
So, following the logic of this article, I as a homeschooling parent should expect to recieve a bill from my local school district for the amount of money the district looses by my children not being in their schools?
That article makes no sense as Samara pointed out. When I was in the public school system we always took our vacations during the school yr because the rates were cheaper off season. If the teachers think this makes their job harder, bummer. I am so sick of teachers acting like they have the hardest job out there. This is just another way to get money and try to exercise control over families.
This is really such a snobby way to go about it. If families want time together they have to pay for time off? What if you are poor? Elitism at it's worst.
Crystal is completely right about public school being welfare, too. I totally agree.
The problem is this. America expects families to revolve their life around the school.
Truthfully, the school is secondary to the family. This is why I love, love, love, love (did I say love?) homeschooling. All our activities revolve around GOD first, and our family second.
We can take vacation (and take our school with us when we go) whenever we'd like. We can stop and help a family member who is sick. We are able to let our education become our lifestyle and vice versa.
While I see the premise behind this, to keep parent's accountable, in the end, the authority lies with the parent, not the school.
It really bothers me when kids at church say they can't do a church activity because they have to be in school. What happened to parents being in charge of where their kids spend the day? The schools would force students to be in school every day of the school year? Why don't they just kidnap them?
This wouldn't affect California homeschoolers, would it?
To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn
Andrea said, "Public school kids score higher on tests, are more inclined to higher education (which I know is a controversial topic here, but bear with me...), and overall, benefit from the system, PROVIDED that their parents support the educational system." But Lisa of Longbourn wonders where the evidence is. I have no doubt that absolute geniuses and many successful people have been publicly educated. My only question is whether this has been proven to be better as Andrea states.
Whether someone benefits from "welfare" or not does not change the fact that it is welfare: government funded social programs. Everyone's tax money goes into a fund redistributed to schools in ways determined by the government to supply something the government prioritizes - education - to anyone who registers, including illegal immigrants. This is welfare.
Thanks for the article, Crystal.
To God be all glory,
Lisa of Longbourn
Interesting article. I am in agreement with Crystal's, Lindsey's, and Zan's conclusions. If a public school system is trying to coerce parents to keep their children in school during the school year then they are operating outside their jurisdiction.
IT IS NOT THE STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO EDUCATE CHILDREN!!!! That is a God-given responsibility clearly laid out in Scripture (Deut. 11:18-22, Prov. 2:1-9, Prov. 22:6) Perhaps some parents will choose to use the public educational system to provide the education for their children but it is still the parents who are ultimately responsible for the education of their children.
This is nothing more than "Big Brother" looking over the shoulders of individual citizens telling them how they should be running their lives in accordance with their ideals. The State (government) is gaining more and more control in this country. They are out to control all aspects of society, just ask the Marxists and Secularists.
Well, now I am sure I have stepped on some toes. ;) If you don't believe me check out the philosophy of John Dewey who greatly influenced modern educational thought.
That is pretty interesting way to get parents to keep bringing their kids to school.......I guess they figure that money means more to them than anything so if they charge them extra, maybe they will have better success with them.
I am a total homeschool advocate, but I do know that some people can't homeschool, not because of ability, but because of life situations. My mom has her children now after years of homeschooling in a very small private school. She gets really frustrated as it is not that she does not value education, it is that she feels there are other ways to learn at times. They are remodeling their kitchen right now and there is a ton of work to do and she felt like it would be better for her 13 year old son to take a break from school and work at home for a couple days.
I do think that people should not skip school days, even homeschool days if you can help it. But i think with homeschooling there is a whole lot of learning to be had besides bookwork.
Crystal: I can see your point and appreciate it...while there are definite issues in the system (our lugubrious President's *wonderful* idea of 'no Child Left Behind.' Fabulous idea. Really. No, I'm not being sarcastic. Okay, I am. It is a stupid idea. Anyhow...), overall, students DO benefit from it. As Wisconsin is not a very homeschool friendly state, public or private/charter schools are our only option. What little experience I have with homeschooling is through some of these wonderful blogs. But it is not something I would ever presume to take on...I may have two masters' degrees, but I'm definitely not equipped to teach my kids math (especially not math! *groans*), reading, writing, etc. I'll leave that to the folks who have teaching degrees. I'll work on teaching them manners, fearing the Lord, etc. I agree that learning can be done outside of the classroom; unfortunately, some folk as parents are just way too lazy. *sigh*
Lisa: I was merely making the statement of the inclination to higher education to illustrate the value/moral differences as well as social differences in public/private vs. homeschooled kids. Many homeschooled folks I've come in contact with feel it isn't necessary to go on to school. While being a stay at home mom is admirable and should be the number one priority of ladies, I can't help but sometimes wonder what these moms will do once their kiddos are grown. Perhaps I'm measuring my educational value with wordly standards, but I'm very thankful to have had the experiences I have had in college, and graduate school.
I wouldn't have become a Christian otherwise, without college and IVCF and the folks the Lord put in my path there.
Hi Crystal,
I see it this way, the public schools have to hang on to the kids somehow. Increasing numbers of parents are putting their Sherlock Holmes caps on and are making the committment to homeschool their kids. Either they pull them out, or the kids drop out in high school due to boredom, discouragement and other factors. The public education system is a failure and its only success is making money off the taxpayer. I see nothing wrong with parents wanting to take their children on a vacation, after all they are the parents, not Uncle Sam. Yet, the socialistic agenda of the public education system contradicts the ultimate desires and wishes of the parent. It basically serves to replace parental roles and babysit children five days a week. Nuff said!
andrea: you said, "I wouldn't have become a Christian otherwise, without college and IVCF and the folks the Lord put in my path there."
With due respect and deep humility, may I suggest that you consider how God USED those experiences to draw you to Himself--they were not necessary to bring about your salvation. If you had not gone to college and instead entered the work force, He still would have saved you--by whatever means He chose.
I imagine that this is part of your thinking and understanding--still I believe it is supremely important that we endeavor to present God's providence and sovereignty as clearly as possible. I certainly mean no offense and hope none is taken.
Andrea:
My three sisters and I were homeschooled most of the time and we all have college degrees. My dad insisted that we all go to college and get degrees. Even my sister who never used her's (accounting). Just fyi.
I would like to make a comment as first a Christian woman, and then as a public school teacher. I agree that requiring payment for family days off of school is ridiculous. I hope, Lord willing, that I will be a mother some day. I was raised in public school, but my husband was homeschooled. We have agreed that when we have children we will bear the sole responsibilty for our children's education. Saying that, I hope everyone sees that I would find such a stipulation as stepping on the toes and rights of the families involved. However, as a public school teacher I do have concerns over students who miss inordinate amounts of school. It is not the amount of work that causes me concern, it is the backward slide in academic progress many students make due to their time out of the classroom. My job is to make sure that my students leave first grade with a first grade education, and it concerns me to see students slip further and further behind. Anyway, I just wanted to let y'all out there know that public school teachers are not the nasty, anti-family bunch we are often made out to be, and not all of us spend our time complaining about how 'hard' our jobs are. Rather, many of us enjoy what we do and are genuinly concerned about our students.
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