It also determines the amount of state aid school districts receive. Ironically, the districts penalized the most for low-attendance rates are those that serve the highest proportion of disadvantaged students. Currently the rate stands at 87.6 percent. Critics of the current system argue that schools should not be penalized financially for low attendance rates because they cannot control all the factors that keep students from coming to school, reports the paper.
Some schools go to great lengths to keep students coming.
Last year in the Cahokia School district, a freshman won a new Chevrolet Cavalier in a raffle for students with perfect attendance. The list includes Arizona's Proposition 203, which would end bilingual education for students not fluent in English and require the students to be placed in intensive yearlong immersion programs that stress English-language instruction and other academic subjects. It also includes Initiative 728 from the state of Washington, which would direct a portion of annual surpluses from state property taxes to schools on a per-pupil basis, and devote unobligated state lottery funds to school programs and construction. Other options include converting them into independently run charter schools and breaking up the staffs of schools that fail. Last spring, the state passed the Education Empowerment Act that requires school systems to improve student test scores or face a state takeover.