Flunking Won’t Solve Truants’ Problems

You really did not do your homework for your March 13 editorial about flunking students at Pacific Palisades Charter High School after teachers record six unexcused absences. Your stance on this issue smacks of the same simplistic thinking that led to “three strikes” laws. I have spent 33 years as a teacher, counselor and administrator for the Los Angeles Unified School District, where I watched this same solution for truancy debated by teachers, parents and administrators. At no time was this quick fix implemented after its consequences were fully explored.

What do you think happens to students who are “automatically” flunked in a class after six unexcused absences? Do you think that they will dutifully return and audit the class for no credit? Do you think that the schools can just baby-sit these students while they wait for a new semester to begin or send them unsupervised to the streets?

The real solution is to deal with each student and his or her parents about the truancy problem. It takes time, counseling and follow-through to achieve the desired changes, but it can be done.

Al Morrison

San Clemente