Operation S.T.O.P. - IMC Video News
There have been numerous attempts to improve public education in the United States over the years. The No Child Left Behind Act has created required benchmarks for students through standardized testing with a focus on improving the performance of children in school, but it does little to help keep kids in school. In fact, it makes passing even more daunting of a task for those who have difficulty keeping up.
Truancy is a big issue in the United States. Every 26 seconds a student drops out of an American school. This problem is consistent throughout the nation, but it is not easily fixed on the national level. Leaders in Champaign have decided to tackle this issue locally - and aggressively. Today they will begin Operation S.T.O.P. (Stop Truancy Outreach Program) by going door to door in neighborhoods known to have truant students to try to bring them back to school. They plan to discuss the causes of truancy with parents and want to stress that the community is ready to help them in every way it can. If you would like to take part in Operation S.T.O.P. you should be ready to board one of the buses at the Mellon Administration Building at 703 S. New St. in Champaign at 5:00 P.M. this evening.
I'm not sure I like how Truancy statutes are being enforced
One of the reasons why I have a beef against Unit 4 is because my kid was in the hospital and out of school for two weeks and they sent me a letter accusing me of being in violation of truancy laws. Even though I kept contact with the school via phone and emails and provided documentation I still received a letter that explained to me that I could be charged with truancy and thrown into jail. The video talks about how this program has been implemented in other areas. Did this result in any significant success and what did the numbers show long-term?
I'm also concerned that the neighborhood that is being targeted is Garden Hills. Are the only households in this community with truant youngsters in Garden Hills? What about the story in the News-Gazette on Monday that covered a fight that broke out on the MTD bus which resulted in a young woman getting her face cut up? The bus in question was on Paula Drive when the incident occurred and perhaps some of these truant kids are staying home due to issues with bullying. When schools are no longer a safe place - guess what - kids don't want to go. I went through that struggle with my own child and I can tell you that Central High School doesn't watch out for kids who are vulnerable to bullies. I asked the school about what kind of alternatives I could seek for my child and was basically told that none were available for her. According to the video that has been posted here that apparently is not the case.
Both of the high schools have new principles this year. The last person who ran Centennial didn't even stick around after one year. I talked to him last year to see if I could transfer my kid there and he said that the school was running at 300 students above capacity. Perhaps what Unit 4 needs to do is consider either expanding the current schools or building another high school.
Fortunately for my kid....I was able to get her into Judah and she is a hell of a lot happier there. I worry about the parents who don't have that option.
Unit 4 needs to clean up their own respective back yard before they start knocking on anyones door.
a little clarification
Dropping out of school means you are beyond the age of compulsory education (16?) and you stop coming to school at all. Truancy means failure to attend school when attendance is compulsory. Truancy (or its tolerance by a parent) is illegal---dropping out is not. Right?
Dropping out is your own business, but truancy hurts the other students. Seeing as truancy is illegal and the school only gets paid for the average number of students who actually show up, there are strong incentives to fix this problem. Hopefully S.T.O.P. can do some good.