"You are not my boss and you can't tell me what to do"

[BusynMember]

You may find this interesting, GM and CB or anyone reading this.

I remember hearing that if your kid is out ten days a semester (that was our school district) it is considered truancy and they DON'T want your kid to be late, although I didn't know they went after parents for that. Jumper was late a lot and nobody cared...I think small school, everyone knew her, everyone liked her, I'd call her in...she was only a few minutes late and wouldn't miss a class, but she'd miss the bell. Anyhow...

Being that I lived in a town of under 1200, we all knew one another, even the teachers and I had a teacher friend who told me what was really behind the truancy rule and this would make sense with the late rule too.

A school district loses money on a child if the child does not go to school. Period. This is, of course, public school. The schools wanted your kid to at least go a half day to school so that the attendance counted. If a child is late, the attendance count may not include your child, I'm guessing, so the school loses money.

I believe that this is partly true, if not 100% true. I know it is for the schools around here.

GM, in ten years I'm guessing this nonsense will be done.

No wonder homeschooling is growing in Wisconsin. You don't have to put up with any of this Ball shoot Once you send the district a letter that you intend on homeschooling, the district can not contact you again or bother you. The down side is your child can't participate in public school activities, but most homeschool parents don't care. They have their own activities. I know quite a few homeschoolingl parents. These absurd rules do not apply to them, at least not in Wisconsin.

 

[GuideMe]

I remember hearing that if your kid is out ten days a semester

Yeah, it's five in my state

A school district loses money on a child if the child does not go to school. Period.

Yes. This is why it's getting so strict. They are using the money to make the school systems and staff take education and truancy more seriously.

GM, in ten years I'm guessing this nonsense will be done.

You think so? I hope so, but I am not as optimistic as you. I only see it getting worse. We shall see.

No wonder homeschooling is growing in Wisconsin. You don't have to put up with any of this Ball shoot Once you send the district a letter that you intend on homeschooling, the district can not contact you again or bother you.

Oh, trust me they can. They are coming down harder on homeschoolers too. When I tell you I thoroughly looked into all options that would make my life easier, I wasn't kidding, LOL! They have their own special way of making life hard for parents who choose to homeschool. Maybe not in WI though, as I said, maybe out in the midwest, things are a little bit more laxed.

 

[GuideMe]

The only thing I found, which was a blessing, was a private online school that does not report to the state, of course, you have to pay money for that, which I did (tuition). It was actually a pretty damn good school. The best online school I ever seen.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I just shake my head.

OK, so I'm from Canada, land of a fairly liberal social safety net including publicly funded health care. We are given a rough time by our American friends and co-workers because we live in a "nanny state".

And I know of NO part of Canada where parents are expected to force their kids to be in school past the age of 16 or 17 (varies a little bit). Once they reach that age... they can quit, nothing we can do, and nothing expected of us either.

This is one of my pet peeves. Staying in school is actually deadly for some kids - not the bullying, not the drugs, just the whole atmosphere, the peer pressure, the irrelevant materials, the big-headed teachers with no heart (no, not all of them of course but enough to make it bad). The education industry is out of control.

(off soap box now)

 

[GuideMe]

This is one of my pet peeves. Staying in school is actually deadly for some kids - not the bullying, not the drugs, just the whole atmosphere, the peer pressure, the irrelevant materials, the big-headed teachers with no heart (no, not all of them of course but enough to make it bad). The education industry is out of control.

Exactly how I feel. Exactly.

 

[Confused]

Im so sorry your going through that! Mine when they are happy with me say they will stay and follow the rules and when they are mad they say they cant wait until they move out! My daughter will be 15 soon and sooo many issues with even her 2 classes as I mentioned. Also says" your not the boss of me, get out of my room, its MY life" etc! You could try online school, yes the ones that cost you usually dont have the issues as if you went home bound with the school district itself. As others mentioned.Plus, she might be able to get away with less credits depending where the school is located.. The Keystone is in PA and 21 credits where as Texas is 27? But according to Keystone, LEGALLY my daughter will grad with 21 as if she were in their state and be done! Of course, getting them to do the work might be a whole other issue.

Its so hard and most laws are just crazy! I mean, they make the laws, we argue with our kids and go through heck to get them there or at least try,our relationships suffer with our kids, health etc over this among other issues and yet, the law says we arent doing enough! Well my, what if their child had these issues? I bet they or most of them never had experiences within their own family! Yes education is wonderful and I am firm on it, but something has to be done for us parents who are doing all we can with out us getting in trouble!

 

[BusynMember]

GM, I'm sorry. I didn't explain.

In Wisconsin, the state can not badger a homeschooling parent at all. And they don't. See, I homeschooled for a year and know the ropes here and have made contacts with homeschoolers. There are no standards. Any parent can homeschool. You can do whatever you want. You don't have to report to anybody. You can "unschool" which is teaching through life, not a curriculum because nobody checks. Many parents of problematic kids decide to homeschool rather than dealing with public school harassment and threats to call CPS etc. Some parents also don't want their children to be put on medication and homeschooling takes that out of the picture too. Some schools can be very obnoxious to you and your child if you choose not to medicate. Many homeschool parents want to incorporate strong religious values into the child's education so they homeschool, choosing it over paying huge fees to private schools. Many families think homeschooling is a very family bonding experience and it can be. For me it just gave me a headache!!!

I have seen many homeschooled kids do great and go onto college in spite of it. And, although I don't personally know of anyone who did this, that also opens things up for a parent to abuse his/her child without getting caught. I'm sure that has happened.

But this is Wisconsin. Each state is different regarding homeschooling.

 

[GuideMe]

In Wisconsin, the state can not badger a homeschooling parent at all

That is really wonderful to hear. I'm glad there are still states out there that are like this. Go WI!

 

[kattriss]

Wow...reading all of your comments really has me concerned about what the future holds for my family. My 16yo has come close to being considered a truant, and I've read horror stories about parents being arrested, fined, etc despite their best efforts to force their kids to go to school. My 11yo loves cyber and thankfully puts in the required number of hours without an issue. My 16yo? I'm lucky to get her to log in at all during the day, and when she does she rushes through assignments in an hour. Lengthier assignments she basically turns in a "dummy" document just to make it look like she actually did the work. Needless to say, I grasp at straws most days to make sure her attendance doesn't go into alarm status (any reading, job searching, artistic, physical, or educational activity I report as hours of attendance, even if they don't correspond with her lessons).

That said, she is so fed up with school that she insists she will drop out the moment she turns 17 (legal age in PA) and get her GED. However, it's my understanding that even if she passes the GED, it will not go into effect until she turns 18 OR her original class graduates. Even worse, in PA the school district holds the power to issue work permits and they have the authority to deny one if the student is not exhibiting adequate academic performance. So even though she wants to work, she's at the mercy of our school district to allow her to do so...she's failing EVERYTHING and is in danger of being held back in 10th grade for a second time. And they're in charge until she's 18 even if she drops out of school, or at least that's my understanding.

And of course if she just refuses to do the work and doesn't put in 28 hours a week, I'm the one who is at risk of legal action against me for truancy. The only loophole I have come across in PA code is that her psychiatrist could deem her mentally incapable of finishing school and she could drop out legally prior to turning 17...I'm actually hoping for this because I can't afford to lose my job (nor can my husband) over something we literally have no control over given our circumstances.

 

[Confused]

kattriss- yes its scary and sad what we are going through for our kids and what our kids are going through. My daughter I feel will be the same way with her online courses as yours is at this point. Does your daughter realize depending on her test scores she might have to go in for GED classes? I wish you luck, hopefully you can get in quick to her psychiatrist. Hugs

Californiablonde, Im keeping up with your other post too, hope your day went and goes great.