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 Schools
Work to Keep Kids in Class, off Streets
by Ben Feller, Associated Press, August 15, 2004
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https://www.bridges4kids.org.
As a 40-year-old
former teacher, Chris Lazzaro has found a fresh line of work in
education. His job is to make sure the back-to-school season
never ends.
In San Francisco’s new fight against school absenteeism, Lazzaro
monitors who is cutting classes at a middle school and a high
school where truancy runs high.
He makes sure daily attendance records are accurate and he goes
after persistently absent students, reminding their parents or
guardians that state law requires the children to show up.
"Often times, parents have been a little bit angry, like I’m
bothering them," Lazzaro said of his unannounced house calls.
"Or I’ll find a child sitting there alone, half-dressed, eating
cereal and watching TV. I’ll say, ‘Get your clothes on, and get
to school.’ It can be very difficult, but you have to keep
persevering to get the students back."
Truancy has long troubled many schools, particularly in urban
areas. In a survey this year, nearly half of middle and high
school teachers described truancy as a serious problem.
The consequences are clear. Absent students slip behind in
academics and get into legal trouble. Schools with high numbers
of truants can lose a community’s trust and millions of dollars
in student aid.
Federal education law requires states to start reporting truancy
figures for every school, not just for districts or regions. And
attendance is factored into whether many schools make enough
progress to avoid landing on the "needs improvement" list, a
designation that can force them to let students transfer
elsewhere.
Still, truancy remains a second-tier concern, said Tony Woollen,
a juvenile detective in Leawood, Kan., who is secretary of the
National Association of School Resource Officers.
At a recent conference, Woollen asked 50 school-based police
officers about truancy in their schools. Three-quarters said
they had no programs in place to address the problem. Most said
their priority is stopping gang activity, bullying and sex
offenses at school.
Every state requires school attendance, yet some do not enforce
those laws aggressively or cannot do so because the laws are
vague, said Kathy Christie, vice president of the Education
Commission of the States Clearinghouse, which tracks education
policies.
School districts have tried, with mixed success, incentives and
penalties to get students back. These include student-tracking
ID cards, parenting classes, special re-entry classes, truancy
courts and grandparent patrols, as well as parties and concerts
to reward attendance.
Beyond students who see classes as having little relevance to
their lives, some students miss school to take care of a sibling
or earn money for their family. Others skip to avoid harassment
or physical abuse by other students, or the public embarrassment
of being behind academically.
And some students just would rather not do the work.
The best way to deal with the problem, Woollen said, is to find
a community approach.
That’s what the San Francisco Unified School District is trying.
The district has created a stay-in-school coalition, drawing in
help from many sources, from the mayor’s office to the housing
authority. It has added specialists such as Lazzaro, called
attendance liaisons, in the neediest schools. Parents get
letters, calls, visits and offers of help as absences mount. The
goal is to have an answer for every obstacle or excuse that
comes up.
"I have yet to meet parents who clam up when people are sitting
at the table with them offering help," said Susan Wong, the
district’s executive director of student services.
Yet parents also get reminders of the potential penalties once
students become habitual truants after the sixth unexcused
absence. These include fines and reduced welfare aid for
parents, and the revocation of driver’s licenses for older
students.
District Attorney Kamala Harris is working with the schools to
prevent truancy through intervention and school safety programs.
She also has made it clear that she will prosecute those who
flout the law.
"We’re not criminalizing the kids," said Louise Renne, the
district’s general counsel. "Failing to act - that’s
criminalizing the kids."
A city grand jury last year found attendance laws have not been
consistently enforced in 25 years, and that without change, the
number of students receiving a diploma would drop markedly. The
problem has been particularly troubling for black and Hispanic
students, who have a disproportionately high truancy rate.
Making the plan work takes time - and persistence.
As administrator of a busy dropout-prevention office, Art Walker
spent the better part of a day late last spring trying to get
just one child, a boy named Francisco, back to school.
Walker went to the boy’s temporary home, the back room of his
grandmother’s store, to confirm his living situation. Through a
Spanish-speaking interpreter, Walker told the boy’s mom about
help available to her. He also said that her son must be in
school or the district attorney would get involved.
"Now," Walker said after leaving, "I think the message is
clear."
Within two days, Francisco was back to school.
BACK TO SCHOOL: BY THE NUMBERS
Some recent statistics on U.S. schools (x means projected):
Schools and school districts in 2002-03:
Number of school districts 15,938
Public schools 92,330
Public schools eligible for federal Title I poverty aid 50,412
Percentage of all public school students in Title I schools 50.3
Public school enrollment in grades K-12:
1990 41.2 million
1995 44.8 million
2000 47.2 million
2004 48.2 million-x
Private school enrollment in grades K-12:
1990 5.2 million
1995 5.7 million
2000 6.2 million
2004 6.3 million-x
Average number of students in public schools in 2002-03:
Elementary school 439
Middle school 617
High school 756
Percentage of children age 3 and 4 enrolled in school:
1970 20.5 percent
1980 36.7 percent
1990 44.4 percent
2002 54.5 percent
Growth in public school enrollment, 1995 to 2001:
United States 6.4 percent
Northeast 4.5 percent
Midwest 2.2 percent
South 7.0 percent
West 10.9 percent
Projected changes in public school enrollment, 2001 to 2013:
United States 4.3 percent
Northeast -1.8 percent
Midwest None
South 3.9 percent
West 13.2 percent
Average student-teacher ratio in public schools:
1990 17.2 to 1
1995 17.3 to 1
2000 16.0 to 1
2004 16.2 to 1-x
Number of public school teachers:
1990 2.4 million
1995 2.6 million
2000 3.0 million
2004 3.0 million-x
Number of private school teachers:
1990 355,000
1995 380,000
2000 390,000
2004 384,000-x
Average salaries of teachers in public schools (adjusted for
inflation):
1990 $44,024
1995 $43,446
2000 $43,945
2004 $44,547-x
Students who scored proficient or better (solid academic
performance) on national reading test:
Fourth-graders, 1992 29 percent
Fourth-graders, 2003 31 percent
Eighth-graders, 1992 29 percent
Eighth-graders, 2003 32 percent
Students who scored proficient or better on national math test:
Fourth-graders, 1990 13 percent
Fourth-graders, 2003 32 percent
Eighth-graders, 1990 15 percent
Eighth-graders, 2003 29 percent
Number of children age 12 to 17 who are considered academically
on track for their age:
Overall 72 percent
Girls 79 percent
Boys 69 percent
Number of school-age children who speak a language other than
English at home:
9.8 million, or almost one in five children ages five to 17.
Average per-student spending in public schools (adjusted for
inflation):
1990 $6,516
1995 $6,549
2000 $7,273
2004 $7,826-x
Public school funding in 2002:
National total $419.8 billion
Federal $32.7 billion
State $207.4 billion
Local $179.7 billion
Students enrolled in the public schools assigned to them:
1993 80 percent
2003 74 percent
Students enrolled in public schools they chose:
1993 11 percent
2003 15 percent
Students enrolled in private schools:
1993 9.1 percent
2003 10.8 percent
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, National
Education Data Resource Center, Census Bureau
On the Net: San Francisco Unified School District
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