My own personal dealings with "the system"

[coppercoins]

I wrote this story yesterday and sent it to the local newspaper and all the local TV stations. I already have interviews with two of them.

This story surrounds a new policy by the school board to cap truancy in the area and force parents to put their vagrant kids in school. It's the opposite end of the spectrum from Robert's story find of not receiving F marks on tests.

It seems the county prosecutor, Darrell Moore, has decided to play school sheriff and start jailing parents who don't force their kids to go to school. Well, as you will read, the whole thing has gottem a bit out of hand, and I am fighting the system.

http://www.coppercoins.com/truancy.html

[Doug]

Just as you said Chuck, it's not honestly about going after deadbeat parents who could care less about their kids education but the allocation of the damned almighty dollar into a particular school budget for administrators to have at their desposal and whim based on the count of students at their particular schools. Here you are, doing everything you can to responsibly keep your son in school and in good health so as to not spread any potential virus etc. that would lower their precious student count, and they are still going to come after you? It sounds as though if your son had diagnosed ebola they would still want him there to up the head count! Keep him out you're liable/screwed. Send him, you're persuant to prosecution as well for sabotaging their head count It's all such BS and prevalent here too. Somewhere along the line education seems to have devolved into a business based on head counts for profit and edification of administrators instead of test scores of the children. Again, it's the quest for profit of the damn dollar! Sorry for the personal ranting but Roberts post on potential testing and yours hit a nerve even though I don't have kids!!

[SteveAZ]

Wow. This is a disturbing story and I'm sorry you are going through it. I don't know if this would be an correct course of action but I have a thought. Isn't calling you a neglectful parent considered deformation of character? Has anyone threatened to bring the "dictator" to court. I don't personally know you besides the forums but I have every reason to believe you are an intellegent responsible person and a caring loving parent who does not need to be told you aren't by someone sitting behind a desk in some office. I say, take em to court. do it as a group with the other parents and it shouldnt cost much per person.
just MHO,
Steve

[coppercoins]

Thanks for the voice of concern. The initial stage is to get the word out. The newspaper and news interviews will help that, but I intend on finding a way to make enough copies of the letter along with a petition to circulte to a majority of the people around, then eventually, if they haven't listened by that stage, a class-action lawsuit. It will take a while and some careful planning to bring it to this stage, partly because it will take time to develop a case, but more so because the case will be against the primary lawyer of the county and we certainly need to have our eggs together. I'm definately NOT afraid of them, but I know their answers will be according to the book and their case will seem air-tight.

[SteveAZ]

Sounds like you are on the way to getting something done about it. I'm glad. Keep it up.

Steve

[coppercoins]

I was featured on the 5, 6, and 10 o'clock news on our local CBS station today - they finally found time for the story and interviewed me this morning, a one hour interview. 10 different parents in the area have already received prosecution notices for this subject, and at least one of them is certainly NOT deserving of such action. This issue will eventually come down to a bloody battle before it is solved, but the fight is definately on.

[rnealw]

I've always heard progress drums slowly.

[Mark]

My goodness--what an insanely applied policy! Have you had any progress in the last couple of weeks?

Mark