CA report says truancy may cost state billions
Published: Sunday, Sep. 29, 2013 - 10:18 pm
LOS ANGELES -- California must act to reduce rampant truancy that saw an estimated 1 million elementary students absent in the last school year and may cost the state billions of dollars through increased crime and poverty, according to a study released Monday by the state attorney general's office.
"The empty desks in our public elementary school classrooms come at a great cost to California," the report said.
The report, scheduled for release at an anti-truancy symposium in Los Angeles, said children have unexcused absences from school for a number of reasons, including family issues, neighborhood safety concerns and bullying. It called for a sweeping battle against absenteeism that brings together parents, educators, lawmakers, law enforcement and community groups.
"The findings are stark. We are failing our children," the report's executive summary concluded.
The report was based on information from around 550 elementary schools, as well as surveys and interviews with school district and county education officials, district attorneys involved with anti-truancy work, non-profit groups, parents and state prison inmates.
It cited California Department of Education figures that found nearly 30 percent of all public