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Truancy

Pushing for More Progress in the District's Children's Mental Health System

Judith Sandalow | Posted 05.08.2013 | DC
Read More: David Catania, Law, Lawyers, D.C. Department of Mental Health, Mental Health, Trauma, Children, National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, Washington DC, Report Card, DC News, Mental Illness, Health Care Finance, Children's Mental Health, Vincent Gray, Children's Health, Truancy, Advocacy, DC News
Judith Sandalow

Last year Children's Law Center published a plan with practical recommendations to improve the children's mental health system in the District. Today, Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, we are releasing a report card that assesses progress in the areas outlined in our plan.

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Move Over, Traffic Court, It's Time for a New Money-Making Scheme: School Truancy Laws That Jail Parents and Levy Excessive Fines

John W. Whitehead | Posted 05.11.2013 | Politics
Read More: Red Light Cameras, Education, Overcriminalization, Traffic Courts, For-Profit Prisons, Truancy, Students Protest Truancy, Truancy Punishments, School Truancy, Truancy Fines, Politics News
John W. Whitehead

Under this increasingly popular system of truancy enforcement, instead of giving students detention or some other in-school punishment for "unauthorized" absences, schools are now opting to fine parents and force them, or their kids, to serve jail time.

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Chicago Tribune Report: Nearly 32,000 Chicago Public School Students Were Chronically Absent In 2010-11

Posted 11.12.2012 | Home
Read More: Chronic Absenteeism, School Absence, Chicago Students, Chicago Public Schools Funding, Illinois Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Public School Budget, Chicago Schools, Student Attendance Records, School Truancy Rate, School Truancy, Truancy, Home News

Nearly 32,000 — or approximately 1 in 8 — Chicago public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade missed four weeks of class or more d...

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San Francisco Students Playing Hooky For Giants Parade Cost Schools Nearly $160,000

Posted 01.05.2013 | Home
Read More: Video, San Francisco Giants World Series, Truant Students, San Francisco Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, High School Students, School Funding, California Schools, San Francisco Giants Parade, San Francisco Giants, School Truancy, Truancy, Absent Students, Home News

San Francisco schools are paying a hefty price for last week's Giants World Series parade. Among the tens of thousands who showed up to honor the W...

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Initiative Challenges Students To Keep Showing Up For School

AP | LISA LEFF | Posted 09.03.2012 | Home
Read More: School Attendance, New York Schools, Washington Schools, Berkeley High School, California Schools, Teachers, Get Schooled, Washington State Schools, National Center for School Engagement, School Truancy, Truancy, Texas Schools, Video, Home News

BERKELEY, Calif. -- School day wake-up calls recorded by celebrities. Weekend makeup classes. Contests with laptop computers, private concerts and car...

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A School Too Far: Is School Choice Unraveling Education Reform In New York City?

Marc Epstein | Posted 08.13.2012 | Home
Read More: Johns Hopkins University, New York Daily News., Education Reform, Buffalo News, The New York Times, Truancy, Home News
Marc Epstein

At the end of the day, neither public service messages nor increased cooperation between schools, police, and social welfare services will cut the truancy Gordian Knot.

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Honor Student Jailed For Missing Too Many Classes

The Huffington Post | Timothy Stenovec | Posted 05.29.2012 | Teen
Read More: Diana Tran, Willis High School, Diane Tran, helpdianetran.com, Diana Tran Jail, Diane Tran Arrested, Louisiana Children's Education Alliance, change.org, Devin Hill, Diane Tran Truancy, Video, Jailed for Missing School, Help Diane Tran, Diane Tran Jail, Truancy, Teen News

Diane Tran, a 17-year-old honor student in Texas, was forced to spend the night in jail last week after missing too many classes, KHOU-11's Sherry Wil...

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'I Fought The Law -- And I Won'

| Posted 03.22.2012 | Teen
Read More: LAPD News, Truancy Ticket Nyc, Maceo Bradley, Truancy Fine, Los Angeles News, Truancy Law, High School News, Teen News, Truancy, Teen News

This is a teen-written article from our friends at L.A. Youth, a nonprofit organization that helps teens advocate for themselves through journalism, l...

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S.C. Bill Denies High School Dropouts, Truants Of Driver's Licenses

Posted 03.06.2012 | Home
Read More: Education, Video, High School Dropout Rates, South Carolina Teens, Teens, High School Students, High School, South Carolina High Schools, South Carolina Schools, High School Truancy, High School Dropouts, School Truancy, Dropout Rates, High School Graduation Rates, Truancy, Home News

Playing hooky? Fine, but South Carolina students shouldn't expect to be doing it while cruising around town. Under a bill advanced last week by a ...

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WATCH: Students & Parents Protest $250 Fines For Being Late To School

The Huffington Post | Andrea Long-Chavez | Posted 03.19.2012 | Latino Voices
Read More: Education, Video, Activism, LA News, La Impact, Latino Prosperity, Truancy Fines, Truancy, Latino Voices News

Nabil Romero was handcuffed, searched and fined by police as he approached Edward Roybal Learning Center in Westlake. His crime: he was late to sc...

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Hard Knocks Keeping Kids In School

Posted 02.10.2012 | Denver
Read More: Superintendent John Barry, Aurora Public School, Graduation, Video, APS Truancy Specialists, Truancy Recovery Team, Skipping School, Graduation Rates, Truancy, Denver News

The number of habitual truants in Aurora, Colo.'s public schools seem to be dropping since district officials began their door-knocking campaign six y...

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Kid Late For School? Arrest The Parents!

Lisa Belkin | Posted 03.26.2012 | Parents
Read More: Legislating Parenting, Mom Arrested, Prosecuting Parents. Free-Range Kids, Tardiness, Truancy, Parents News
Lisa Belkin

At least one police officer in Loudoun, VA thinks that one mother of three little girls should be punished for "contributing to the delinquency of her minor children." The specifics of her crime? Getting her children to elementary school late.

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Report: Bullying Not Direct Cause Of Truancy, Schools Can Support Victims

Posted 02.16.2012 | Home
Read More: School Bullying Laws, Anti-Bullying Laws, Video, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Truant Students, US Department of Justice, Bully Victims, Teen Bullying, School Bullying, Truancy, Anti-Bullying, Home News

School bullying does not directly cause more students to skip school, but challenges to the underlying social and emotional complexities exist, new re...

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QUICK POLL: Should Students Be Fined For Cutting Class?

Posted 11.17.2011 | Home
Read More: Truancy Punishments, Nashua High School, Video, Yourtake, High School News, Nashua, Truancy, Home News

At Nashua High School in New Hampshire, students aged 16 and older are now facing the possibility of being fined up to $100 per day for cutting class....

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A Promise to Bobby

Max Skolnik | Posted 12.05.2011 | DC
Read More: Drug Violence, Suicide, Public Health, Violence, Crestwood, Promise Neighborhoods, Public Health Crisis, Congess Heights, Truancy, DC News
Max Skolnik

Last week, DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson revealed some startling statistics about our youngest citizens. We learned that 10% of current eighth graders have attempted suicide.

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For Violence Prevention, Better Enforcement Is Needed

Eli Lehrer | Posted 11.19.2011 | DC
Read More: Gun Violence, David Catania, Youth Violence, Dc Youth Violence, Dc Gun Violence, Dc Violence, Truancy, Law Enforcement, Truancy Punishments, DC News
Eli Lehrer

At least some of the proposals contained in David Catania's South Capitol Street Memorial Act are worthy ones. But I'm not sure that what Catania proposes would have done anything to prevent the tragedy.

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D.C.'s Youth Deserve a Less Violent Future

David Catania | Posted 11.14.2011 | DC
Read More: Parole, Gun Violence, Youth Violence, Dc Youth, South Capitol Street Tragedy Memorial Act of 2011, Dc Impact, Dc Violence, Mental Health Care, Child Mental Health, Guns, Truancy, DC News
David Catania

On March 30, 2010, four young people lost their lives in a hail of gunfire on South Capitol Street S.E. All District residents deserve better than to live in a city where this sort of unspeakable violence is possible.

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When Kids Cut Class, Could Mom And Dad Go To Jail?

Posted 10.04.2011 | Home
Read More: Indianapolis Schools, Public Schools, Indianapolis, Marion County, Education, Indiana, Truants, Truancy Punishments, Schools, Indiana Schools, Truancy, Parents, Home News

When students skip class, parents could be the ones punished -- as criminals. A new program in Marion County, Ind., which comprises 11 school distr...

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Punish The Parents For Failing Students?

Dr. Jim Taylor | Posted 08.08.2011 | Home
Read More: Parenting, Public Education Reform, Legislation, Failing-Students, Absenteeism, Punishing Parents, Education Reform, Parents Accountability, Truancy, Home News
Dr. Jim Taylor

Punishing parents for their so-called bad parenting unfairly stigmatizes them as bad parents when they may, in fact, want the very best for their children.

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School Tries GPS Units To Keep Track Of Truant Students

Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Read More: Public Schools, Anaheim, California Public Schools, Gps, California, GPS Tracker, Truancy, Home News

The Orange County Register reports that Anaheim-area schools in California are testing out a new method to keep kids from skipping school: GPS trackin...

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Jail Field Trip: Scare Tactic Or Truancy Prevention?

Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Read More: Pennsylvania Schools, Education, David Chavez, Sports Media, New Mexico Schools, School Field Trips Prison Field Trip, California Schools, Truancy, Poll, Home News

Most schools send students to a museum or the theater for a day away from the classroom. But one New Mexico state lawmaker is proposing a field trip t...

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Lawsuit Claims Truancy Fines Take It Too Far: One Parent Charged $27,000

AP | MARC LEVY | Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Read More: Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Truancy Fines, Absenteeism, Lebanon School District, School Truancy, Naacp, Truancy, Truancy Fines, Home News

LEBANON, Pa. — A federal lawsuit accuses a Pennsylvania school district of imposing excessive and illegal fines on truant children or their fami...

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Bill Proposes Parents Lose Driver's Licenses Over Children's Truancy

Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Read More: Erik Wells, Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism, At-Risk Youth, Absenteeism, Truants, Video, Home News

In a nation replete with high school dropouts, educators and policy makers alike are searching for ways to keep kids in class. Michigan prosecutor Ky...

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Found Money

Zak Kukoff | Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Read More: Public Schools, High School, Education, Schools, Gangs, Crime, Truancy, Home News
Zak Kukoff

Student truancies are depriving schools and districts of millions of dollars in funding every year -- but I want to offer a solution.

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Should Parents Be Punished for Teenage Truancy?

Alex Berg | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Read More: East Harlem, New York City Department of Education, Educational Neglect, Education Reform, Welfare Reform, Child Welfare Organizing Project, Administration for Children's Services, Truancy, New York News
Alex Berg

Bevanjae Kelley's heart sank when she arrived at her East Harlem home after work one day in September and saw the envelope from New York's Administration for Children's Services (ACS).

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