California School District Bills Vacationing Families

A school district is attempting to collect payment from families who remove their children from school for planned absences such as family vacations. California schools do not receive state funding for any students missing on a particular day.

This is the height of absurdity. California families already pay huge amounts of taxes in support of public schools. Attempting to "charge" parents for making decisions for their children as they see fit is not only greedy, it's an inappropriate intrusion into parental decision making and family life.

When our children attended our local schools, our philosophy was that not all learning happens inside the classroom. As long as our children were doing well in school, we saw absolutely no problem with taking them out of school occasionally. For instance, my children still vividly remember all they saw and learned on their trips to Boston, but today they would have no memory of what they would have done in school on the particular days they missed. Learning takes place over the long haul, and there's a much bigger picture than what happens from day to day in the classroom.

Meanwhile the real issue here, the way California chooses to fund its schools, is not being addressed. California provides funding to schools based on daily attendance, not enrollment. This also leads to great pressure from the schools to bring sick children to school, "at least for first period attendance," as I was told by more than one teacher. Needless to say, that practice can start a vicious cycle, exposing even more children to illness and causing further absences.