Skip school and lose welfare? The good and bad of Australia’s tough tactics on truancy
What if the punishment for skipping school was a loss in welfare benefits for your family? It’s a strategy that some politicians are considering in the U.S. – plans have been floated in Missouri and put into action in Michigan last year.
Australian students in their final year of high school take a break during a conference about what to do after graduation. The country is trying to boost its high school completion rates to 90 percent. (Photo: Sarah Butrymowicz)
But in Australia, they’ve already tried it, and the experience is a cautionary tale.
In 2008, Australia’s high school graduation rate was about 75 percent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s about the same as in the U.S., where it’s nearly 75 percent, but it wasn’t good enough for Australian officials. Many states there allowed students to leave at the age of 15, following their 10th year of schooling and just before college preparation work begins. Thousands dropped out. So that year, the Australian government set a target of 90 percent high school completion. Within a few years nearly all states had increased the age to 17.
Still, the Australians thought they should do more. To make sure all students stayed enrolled until they were 17, officials put strict penalties in place and a series of supports for truants, such as opportunities to work with social workers. Parents could also be fined up to $11,000. And, as a last
Latest racial incident brings pain, sadness for first black ‘Ole Miss,’ student body president
Rethink Mississippi I never thought that I would meet a historic figure like James Meredith, the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi. The opportunity presented itself during my junior year. I received a congratulation call from him after I was elected the university’s first black, female student body president. We began to regularly correspond: he even came to visit sever
