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Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all.

-John Paul Jones

Skip Class? Be Prepared To Pay For It.

There is a new program in place in Hunterdon County, NJ that will now allow students to pay $100 per course per day missed. Translation? You skip a day of school, it could cost you $400 (their system is set up as four blocks of courses per day). Hey parents? Want to take your kids on a long weekend vacation to visit Grandma? Add an extra $400 to your expenses for the trip for each day you plan to take your child with you.

The school’s theory is that this will promote responsibility in the kids to not have absences from class. The money is not going to the school, but to an online service which the student will be required to use in order to make up classes this way. Gone are the days of asking for make-up work I guess.

In defense of the school, this is just another option they have added. Students can still either go to summer school or redo their year. If students want to graduate on time (if they are seniors) then the online makeup classes are all they can do. Great options, huh?

In my opinion this is just silly. The residents of this county are already paying school taxes which aids in the “payment” of their child to go to school. Now they are going to have to pay if their child does not go to school? How does this make sense?

Homeschooling is starting to look better and better now.

Oh, the whole article on this is here if you care to read more than my explanation.

Posted by G-Dawg on September 18, 2006 at 05:16 PM

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Seeing as the students don't actually pay the fines, I have a hard time believing this will impact truancy at all.

Posted by: smilerz at September 18, 2006 6:07 PM

Except if the parents are strict enough to make their kid pay for it. I had a job in high school, and my parents would definitely make me pay for this if it came down to it. The fact of having to pay if you *miss* class...that's what's messed up to begin with.

Posted by: G-Dawg at September 18, 2006 6:12 PM

From the article (bold emphasis mine): "When students at the high school, in West Amwell, have racked up enough unexcused absences to be at risk of losing credit toward graduation -- more than four skips for a semester-long course or more than eight for a year -- they can no longer rely on sympathetic teachers to squeeze in makeup work. Instead, the teens will have to cough up the money for a tuition-based online service -- the first such program of its kind in the state."

This isn't a 'miss-class once for grandma's surgery and you owe $100 sort of thing'. This is just ratcheting up the penalties for truancy.

While I don't know if this is the best option, for quite a few reasons, it's not like this will affect the students who aren't regularly skipping class. It may not be a good idea, but neither is public education in general, IMHO.

What I think a libertarian really needs to look at is this:

"Since all related fees will be paid directly to Educere -- the K-12 online-education provider used for other purposes, including advanced courses in 38 states and approximately 40 New Jersey districts -- the school district will not benefit financially, Brady said."

How much do you want to bet that Educere has some connection to the local school board (whether nepotism, lobbyists, etc) which got this little bit of corporate welfare through?

Posted by: Brad Warbiany at September 22, 2006 3:00 PM

Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all.

-John Paul Jones

Skip Class? Be Prepared To Pay For It.

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