Schools

Poll: Should Parents Face Fines or Jail if Kids Play Hooky?

A new report from the state attorney general's office says that California is in the middle of an 'attendance crisis.'

State Attorney General Kamala Harris just released a report finding that nearly 1 million elementary school students were truant in the 2011-12 school year. Harris is not new to the fight against truancy. 

With an eye on lowering the crime rate, Harris prosecuted the parents of chronic truants when she was the district attorney for San Francisco. Harris' office touted figures showing that her anti-truancy programs reduced elementary school truancy by a third. 

Should the justice system take a harder line with parents whose children are chronically truant? 


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