We pay for a full year of instruction regardless of the frequency with which the students at the school attend class. It doesn t matter if the class is always full or often empty, the cost to the taxpayer is the same. Only with publicly reported attendance statistics can we know the extent to which our government-run schools are providing value for the money they receive. Attendance statistics are routinely included in annual school accountability reports in jurisdictions around the world. Parents can use attendance data along with other information as evidence of school effectiveness when they decide on the right school for their child.
Taxpayers have the right to know how efficiently their dollars are being used.
Any school board that does not monitor student attendance is simply not doing its job. Any school board that refuses to divulge such information is derelict in its duty to the citizens it serves. Notes All financial information in this article is derived from Ministry of Education budget data for the school year 1998-99. Correspondence received by the author in response to a request for data. Correspondence received by the author in response to a request for data.