Charter truancy response #2...

From Rep Roebuck's office, explaining the current law...

Mr. Flemming,

 

Under Current law the following applies for compulsory attendance regarding charter schools :

 

Compulsory Attendance

Charter schools must report to the student’s school district of residence when a student has accrued 3 or more days of unexcused absences. It is the responsibility of the school district to enforce the compulsory attendance laws in accordance with the Public School Code.

 

A student does have the option of no longer attending a charter school, at that point the school district of residence would be responsible for the education of that child.  So technically if a student stops attending a charter school, the charter school must notify the school district of residence of the withdrawal of that student, and no further requirements are placed on the charter school for enforcing truancy proceedings.  Charter schools must provide school districts with the PDE Charter School Student Enrollment Notification Form for each district student enrolled in the charter school within 15 days of the student’s enrollment and must notify the school district within 15 days of a student’s withdrawal.

 

Rep. Roebuck put a proposal in to change the law to require charter schools, to include cyber charter schools to enforce the compulsory attendance laws for the students enrolled in charter and cyber charter schools, rather than simply un-enrolling them from charter schools and placing the ownist on the school district of residence for enforcing the law.  This proposal is contained in HB1657.

Charter truancy response...

From the school district....

Hi Mr. Flemming, 

The Charter School agreement states that charter schools shall report to the School District’s Office of Truancy and Attendance all unexcused absences of any duration greater than three (3) days.  The Charter School Agreement also states that the Charter School shall submit to the District a report for any student after ten (10) consecutive days of unexcused absence. 

It is important to point out however, that Charter Schools are independent LEA’s, and because of that they are solely responsible to provide prevention and outreach support to truant students, as well as take action if students are repeatedly truant.

The District’s Office of Truancy and Attendance has been successful however, in working with the city’s Truancy Court to expand services to charter schools.  In November, charter schools that meet the proper requirements can refer truant students to Truancy Court for review by DHS and family court.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.

My student teaching experience

Driving this evening I passed the school in West/Southwest Philly where I did my student teaching. The school is not too far from the Checkers on Baltimore Av. I student taught in a third grade classroom and had the WORST experience!

The children weren't the problem. I'll leave that there! My vocal opposition to "bafoonery" didn't just begin! I had quite a few opinions then too! Looooong story short, I ended up getting thrown out of the school just before my final observation! My local, huge university on Broad street called me and informed me that things like graduation were now on the line! Me not happy!

Fortunately Cook-Wissahickon allowed me to come teach a final lesson for observation purposes!

As I reflect on that awful experience, I began to think of a few questions for my colleagues!

Do you say "Good Morning" to your students?
Do you ask your students about their weekend?
How often to you inquire about their pets, out-of-school activities, their family?
Do you give them hand shakes, pounds, high-fives?
Do you have them show you the latest dances?
Do you start each day yelling?
Do you wonder why she sleeps in your class everyday or do you just judge?
Do you walk around their neighborhood, perhaps to the corner store?
Just a few questions for my colleagues....

That student teaching semester was......interesting!
Two of my student-teaching headaches retired and we're all the better for it!

Foreign Language in Elementary School

In addition to the myriad of arguments that can be made in defense of public education, another passion I hold dear is the idea of foreign language being taught in elementary schools.

I developed my love for French language and culture in a public middle school, but my exposure to French began in kindergarten at the YMCA Academy. Disclaimer: My parents attempted the private school setting for us twice before 1st grade before settling on public school for good with a heavy dose of parental responsibility for education in our household!

But I digress...

Whatever it takes, let's try to make it happen! To make up for this need, every now and then I'd introduce French words and phrases during Social Studies lessons. This year, I hope to whet their appetites with Spanish dictionaries. This is going well! Some students choose these dictionaries to read and "try out" during SSR!

Idea: EC clubs with a foreign language focus!

A bientot!

You Don't Get To....

You don't get to reduce an already under-funded school system, divert the public dollars to privately managed entities and call me a failure at the same time!

You don't get to put the entire responsibility of educating a child solely in the hands of teachers while absolving many caregivers of their role in the process!

You don't get to call poverty and lack of resources, excuses!

You don't get to evaluate and lecture me on quality instruction when you haven't set foot in an elementary classroom since you were in elementary school!

In the venacular of today's youth.....naw dawg!

Here...Here...Here....Absent

Here's the text of a blog post I started. Once I drafted this, I thought to head to the Philadelphia Daily News instead....I started this on Oct 6th....

Sometimes 140 characters just isn't enough!

Lately I've been thinking about a kid I had a few years back. Much to my chagrin, many of my 6th graders and their families choose to enroll in a local charter school after moving on from our K-6 elementary school. Be it known, I don't believe in the concept of diverting public money and resources away from an already underfunded district to fund a privately managed educational experiment, all while holding the schools from whom the money was diverted to higher standards than that of the ones who received the diverted funds and resources. But I digress!

It was on a Saturday in June when I learned that a former student of mine had not been attending school and as a result got into some trouble which landed him in jail (or likely some other juvenile placement). He and his family chose to enroll in the local charter middle/high school.

What troubles me most is not knowing what protocols are in place for students who are enrolled in charter schools and who may end up truant. What steps must these publicly funded, privately run and managed schools take to ensure that their students are attending school? Since the idea is less oversight, who is monitoring that such protocols are adhered to and with fidelity?

Notes and phone calls home, steps that the teacher has taken, CEH 14, C-31, CSAP, RTII, counselors, home visits, and the list goes on of the truancy vocabulary that we employ and the steps we take when a child is absent THREE times (even sporadically) without having submitted an absence note!

So I just want to know, what do our charter counterparts do? To whom do they report? What is the process? IS there a process? I need answers!

iRobot....NOT!!!!

The legislation of particular pedagogical practices seems to be on the rise.
"Put this on your wall."
"Do this strategy daily."
"Post this!"
"Say this!"
"Read this with your voice in a low pitch and one hand on your head with your big toe slightly elevated!"

When is it going to end? I know this may come as a surprise, but we're teachers! WE, unlike many, actually went to school for this! Four or five years of undergraduate courses and two more years of graduate school, endless "professional development", in addition to participation in informal teaching groups, the reading of professional journals, watching teaching videos and other activities baptized in educational theory and research! This doesn't count the informal lunch time conversations we have with colleagues, the texts about strategies and what has worked or not worked, the discussion of plans over coffee in the morning, and the Friday night dinners at restaurants that we vow will NOT turn into discussion over work, but almost always do!

We're not robots! We're teachers! Leave us to teach!

Let me be clear, I'm speaking of this "teacher-must-be-dumb" world in general, not about specific schools! Let that be made known, because apparently the first amendment applies to everyone but teachers! Not only is our opinion not valued in the classroom, but we also can't seem to put anything on facebook, twitter, or in a blog without being called into question either!