Students who fail to show up for school in Texas this year might just find that school officials come a knockin'.
State officials have said that failing to meet the federal dropout standard could for the first time count against campuses in their ratings.
For the first time, Texas schools have until Sept. 26 to corral wayward students before they must be considered dropouts. They had until mid-January in the past. This is a challenge in a district like Dallas ISD, which has historically had thousands of kids not return until several weeks into the school year.
Large districts face some pretty serious problems. Some kids are working to help support their family, and others just don't care about school and see no point in going. When school starts and students don't show up, it's difficult to know if they moved over the summer or just decided that they would rather do something else. For a variety of reasons, education isn't a priority for them.
Yesterday was Grandparents' Day at my second grade grandson's school, and his teacher asked all of us to tell what school was like when we were in school. I heard the usual: no air conditioning, strict rules, no technology, desks in rows, etc. The recurring theme was you had to work hard, and fun wasn't usually part of the equation. I don't remember anyone ever skipping school.
Educators are now having to jump through hoops to get students to attend school and then dazzle them enough so that they will want to come back. It will be interesting to hear what the current generation will remember when they experience Grandparents' Day.