Absenteeism rife at Boston high schools

Boston Globe ^ | January 15, 2012 | James Vaznis

[reaganaut1]

More than a third of the students in Boston public high schools were chronically absent last year, even as the city undertook additional efforts to lure students to school, according to a Globe analysis.

At East Boston High School, half of the students missed at least 19 days, more than 10 percent of the school year. The rates of chronic absenteeism were even higher at Brighton High, Charlestown High, and Dorchester Academy. Across the city, 7,400 high school students were chronically absent.

The figures illustrate the enormous challenges most local high schools face in keeping students in class, and more significantly, preventing them from quitting altogether. Boston high schools plagued by absenteeism tended to have among the highest dropout rates, the analysis of attendance data showed.

“I think it is absolutely a crisis,’’ said Ranny Bledsoe, headmaster at Charlestown High School, where she has revamped a number of programs to make school more meaningful to students, but also has been hampered by budget cuts. “Are we doing enough to address it? Absolutely not.’’

Students miss school for a variety of reasons: They may be sick, homeless, working, or taking care of a sibling or their own child. Other times, they skip to avoid being bullied, or because they are bored with classes, struggling academically, or frustrated that they are so far behind that they think they will never graduate.

Carynn Donald, a ninth-grader at Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester, estimates that she has missed a dozen days this year, often because she woke up tired and went back to sleep. Donald said her interest in school waned in the fourth or fifth grade when the homework became more difficult and she had to repeat two grades in middle school.

[HenpeckedCon]

Another dirty little secret is that Boston Govt schools are 90% minority because of busing. I Liberal do gooder judge wanted to integrate all of the schools. All he did was make the vast majority of white students go to private schools instead.

[Venturer]

Leroy don’t lak skool.

[Haddit]

Welcome to Free Republic

[bitt]

http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/files/BPS%20at%20a%20Glance%2010-0225.pdf

SY10 enrollment is 56,340 (a decrease of 177 from
SY09 actual), including:
26,540 students in kindergarten–grade 5
11,460 students in grades 6-8
18,340 students in grades 9-12
Student demographics:
39% Hispanic
37% Black
13% White
74% of BPS students are eligible to
receive free & reduced-price meals
in school (65% free, 9% reduced).

Students who don’t attend the BPS1:
Of the 75,400 school-age children living in Boston,
about 18,850 (25%) do not attend Boston public
schools. They are:
47% Black
37% White
12% Hispanic
Of these students:
6,420 go to parochial schools
3,770 go to private schools
3,150 go to suburban schools through METCO
4,820 go to public charter schools
440 are placed by the BPS Special Education
Dept. in non-BPS schools

[DIRTYSECRET]

U meen Darnell.

[driftless2]

Yes, your parents made you go. There was no other choice back then unless you were throwing up or had a fever or bad cold. The teen in this story has parents or parent who obviously doesn’t give a d... about her own kid. The teen was too tired, and went back to sleep? Unbelievable! There should have been school people asking where Carynn was, and if not sick, hauled off to school. Then they should start arresting parents and taking their children away from them for abdicating their responsibilites. Bring back orphanages.

[mosaicwolf]

"....city undertook additional efforts to lure students to school,...."

Ummm....I don't get it. They should try the time proven way my Father "lured" me to school. Never missed a day except the first day of deer season. Oh yeah, my Father approved of that absence.

[gop4lyf]

Then they will blame it on those evil 1% who worked hard throughout school and are keeping the poor 99% who never had a chance down.

[bitt]

welcome.

FY2009 Per Pupil Expenditure (% change from FY2008):
Regular ed. $11,755 (+6%)

The average FY2008 per pupil expenditure was about $13,849 (+6%).

[Bigg Red]

When I spent my single year of 22 years of my teaching career in a public school, I used to hope that certain students would not come to school, as those were often the disruptive, non-compliant kids.

Of course, after a certain number of absences, the pupil personnel workers would go out and visit their homes, and the brats would be back to destroy the order that I had finally managed to bring to a given section.

There should be two kinds of schools in a given system. One type of school would be available for kids who want to be in school, regardless of their ability or grades, and the other type of school would be for those students who did not want to be in school. The well-behaved kids are being robbed.

[Bigg Red]

My first response attempt on my first day of joining free republic.

^^^
Welcome to the group.

[kjo]

Where’s our first black president on this? He should be out and about, not in Hawaii, but in Cleveland and Philadelphia preaching the importance of education.

But, I guess that would be racist.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

she has missed a dozen days this year, often because she woke up tired and went back to sleep.

I lived about two blocks from my Catholic Grammar school. Every day we assembled in the school yard, said the Lord's Prayer and Pledge and then marched into class to the "Stars and Stripes Forever". I remember waking one morning to the strains of Sousa waifing in through my open bedroom window, jumping into my uniform and bolting to school just in time to joint the tail end of my unit (class) and march into class in good order.

[SaraJohnson]

What you said is true. Also true is that the schools are totally dysfunctional institutions and some kids can’t do crazy as well as others.

[Don Corleone]

the other type of school would be for those students who did not want to be in school.

In my day that was called "REFORM SCHOOL"!

[M.K. Borders]

May I suggest two schools are not the answer. The group that does NOT want to be in school WILL NOT learn, regardless the threats or rewards. Therefor there need be but one school, a school for those who desire an education.

[The Working Man]

There should be two kinds of schools in a given system. One type of school would be available for kids who want to be in school, regardless of their ability or grades, and the other type of school would be for those students who did not want to be in school. The well-behaved kids are being robbed.

---

I agree with you, I saw it with my own children in the Flori-DUH School System. I’m now raising my Grand-Daughter here in the Sticks of Kentucky. And we are doing well with her so-far. The secret?: Reduce the number of distractions to a minimum and maintain a strict bedtime.

The bus she rides on carries students from Kindergarten to twelfth grade. And they are picked up starting at 6:30 AM.

I do feel for the kids, but this is a farming community and they see their Parents and relatives up even earlier to do chores before going off to a paying job.

[Krankor]

There should be two kinds of schools in a given system. One type of school would be available for kids who want to be in school, regardless of their ability or grades, and the other type of school would be for those students who did not want to be in school.

I like your idea. The school for miscreants would feature classes that would entice them to keep coming back- rap song writing, tattooing, doin' the dozens etc. The purpose would be twofold:(1) Keep them off the street from killing innocent people during the daytime. Sadly, you'd still have to lock yourself in at night. (2) You might be able to use these classes to teach them at least enough to survive in the world- how to read, how to write, maybe a little bit of math. It might actually inspire a few them to try the regular school again.

[oh8eleven]

whiteclockinthetrees
Since Jan 15, 2012
Welcome to FR.

Maybe no one should be in public school anyhow.
There isn't anything wrong with public schools that a good conservative @ss-whuppin' wouldn't fix.
Same with the US.

[APatientMan]

Many variables effect the outcome of a child’s education:

The parents’ values and priorities
The teachers’ values and priorities
The influence of other students and the values/priorities they bring with them
The influence of gov’t on curriculum and methods
etc.

We chose to eliminate as many variables as possible - we home-school. It works very well for us.