Chairman Phil Mendelson Committee of The Whole Councilmember David A.

Catania Chairman, Committee On Education Re:

Bill 20-072, Attendance Accountability Amendment Act of 2013 Solution: Use Technology, Cut Costs, Avoid Human Errors

Dear Messrs Mendelson and Catania and members of your committees: THE VIEW FROM THE STREET Thank you very much for bringing serious and thoughtful attention to the issue of truancy in the Districts schools. On my way to the hearing held, Tuesday 12 February 2013, at around 11:15am, biked passed three school aged boys just walking aimlessly in Shaw. Perhaps all three had reasonable legitimate reasons for not being in class, but this is such a common occurrence in Shaw that I doubt that they were not truants. The house I own in Shaw is about three blocks form Dunbar High School which last year had the fth highest truancy rate, among all DC schools, with 36% of students having missed more than twenty-one days of schools according to a July 2012 report issued by DCPS Chancellor Henderson [ http:// philmendelson.com/2012/2012/10/01/truancy/ ]. Crime in Shaw is notorious and juvenile/truant crime seems to be a major culprit in many instances. The N Street Park, between 6th & 7th Streets NW, is a popular hangout for vagrants, drunkards, drug dealers, former offenders and truants -- or school aged boys apparently without any meaningful parental supervision. I can only imagine the crime the community struggles with around Ballou. THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG As a problem that undermines educational success of the Districts students, and as Mr Mendelson has indicated repeatedly, it is surely the DC Governments fundamental responsibility to resolve incidents of truancy and help ensure that students attend school. As Mr Catania has stated, truancy has increased to epidemic levels which have disastrous and long-term effects on the quality of life of truants, their nontruant peers, their families and the communities in which some truants commit crimes. I appreciate the Councils aim to take severe and meaningful aim and to fund resources and action to reign in truancy across the District. However, as much as I and heartened by your zeal, the plan to arrest parent(s)/guardian(s) for not ensuring that their students are in school is a classic example of government overreach that misses the real problem and probably complicates truancy further and

unnecessarily. Its difcult to imagine why the Council would seek to arrest a single grandmother, who might be the only responsible party who attends to the needs -- food, housing, clothing -- of a student if the student becomes chronically truant. In the absence of a mother and father willing to parent their offspring, such a grandparent might be the only support the child has and might have the best intentions and be working to the best of their ability to raise their grandchild. This Straight A act, as it stands, is doomed to receive an Ffor #FAIL. COMPULSORY EDUCATION: GET EACH STUDENTS ASS IN CLASS EVERY DAY In the absence of competent parents, it is the governments responsibility to make sure students are in school. But In the District, an extensive cottage industry has grown -- like a forest of invasive weeds -around the social services that the government is not equipped or intended to provide and to make up for the failures of so called mothers and fathers to properly parent their children. Many of these organizations, which have survived for years if not decades, without providing any veriable outcomes that justify their expense and existence, only complicate the problem of truancy while providing no meaningful solutions -- as shown by statistics disclosed in your committees. Despite budget surpluses, the government would be wise to conserve resources and use them on successful and proven programs that are the most effective in achieving its goals to curb truancy. The Metropolitan Police Department apparently has sufcient truancy ofcers who seem to be up the task and competently dealing with truants -- taking them off our streets and returning them to school or their parent(s)/guardian(s). The government should provide resources that assist MPD and DCPS in this effort using and expanding existing programs, enhanced technology and other resources. UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY The current GPS tracking system used on former offenders and those on probation seems like a good existing tool to start with. The Districts burgeoning tech sector can probably provide the talent to create an effective and useful DCPS-based system separate from the court-initiated program. In accordance with the goals of compulsory education, the threshold of two unexcused school absences -- mysteriously which neither the student or parent(s)/guardian(s) can give reasonable justication for -should trigger serious response to nip this problem in the bud during this epidemic. As the current Straight A act suggests, ten unexcused absences should trigger intensive response be diverse appropriate agencies to determine the underlying causes of truancy and treat long standing and long term extensive problems. But before that happens, DCPS (and the Districts charter schools) should work with MPD to identify students, alert them and their parents of consequences and equip the student with school-issued GPS anklets devices. Before truancy becomes a serious issue, the failure of parents

and school ofcials to provide adequate control of persons in need of supervision (PINS) or child in need of supervision (CINS) can be easily managed with the use of such technology. Truant GPS anklets should give access to parents (via smart phone or desktop computer, whether at home or with a secure login feature from any public/private computer), principals, and/or MPD ofcers to monitor, track down and return students to school. Such a DCPS/MPD based system should avoid the involvement of DC Courts and lawyers, and the time delays and ridiculous expenses that come with those services -- another cottage industry that has evolved into another monstrosity of failure in which lawyers are the primary beneciaries. A school/police-based program should avoid criminal sentences for the children or their parent(s)/guardian(s). After a certain, reasonable and commonly agreed upon period of time, a truant can be removed from his/ her GPS anklet if their attendance immediately ceases to be a problem. But if truancy continues, especially up to or exceeding ten unexcused absences, then other measures should be taken with the student and their parent(s)/guardian(s). THINK BROADER Given the current pathetic performance outcome of the Districts public school system (40%-50% failure rate), which Chairman Mendelson routinely points out, and the inability of our criminal and juvenile justice system to rehabilitate those who become ensnared in court processes (Mendelson is famous for highlighting that two-thirds, 2/3, of offenders re-offend), arresting and jailing students and/or parent(s)/ guardian(s) seems like a recipe for complicating problems around truancy instead of rectifying them. Much like anti-abortion activists who seek to criminalize abortion and arrest -- almost exclusively -young girls and women -- would-be mothers, The Straight A Act of 2013, would disproportionately punish women, while their male counterparts -- the so-called fathers -- will likely face minimal if any penalties. When such fathers are absent to begin with -- either physically not in the home (some possibly incarcerated) or emotionally detached -- its unlikely they will bear their fair share of any punishment. Certainly, if you were to incarcerate two parents, who would be at home to monitor and provide for the truant student, nurture them with healthy food and care, and make sure they get to school? What happens to the parent who loses their job because you put them in jail for ve days? For such parents who are already mired in poverty, increasing their poverty and hardship with nes doesnt sound like anything more than a knee-jerk solution advocated by those who are well heeled, in need of scoring political points for the next election, or to simply be vindictive -- without providing real solutions. Sure, some parents are criminally horrible, abusively negligent and/or hopelessly incompetent, some never should have given birth; but now that their children are in the world then need to be kept in

school, possibly with the only people who care about their futures and in the only institution -- absent a family -- that will help them achieve success. Contrary to Councilmember Grossos statements, I do not think that the racial demographics of enforcing truancy should prevent immediate action. Unfortunately, the Districts large population of poorly educated African Americans, whose lack of educational achievement has created a culture of failure and poverty, naturally translates to increased truancy rates among some African American children. This reality may hold true for other minority groups as well. The reality that your enforcement will naturally affect more African Americans than other populations, should not be a deterrent, but inspire you to implement a means of providing solutions to a variety of social ills. SET THE NATIONAL EXAMPLE District students, their peers, teachers, police ofcers, and communities all across the District, and in our neighboring suburbs, need you to put in place meaningful and effective strategies to address truancy and related crime now. This is not a new problem that has just arisen over the past year; its been a long standing issue in the District for decades; it is not unique to Washington DC, truancy occurs among poorly educated and impoverished populations across the globe and in all communities whose members have not learned the value of education. No one seems to have yet engineered the ideal sweet enticing carrot to help all populations appreciate the value of education -- especially a free public and compulsory primary educational system like we have in the District of Columbia. All of the students in the Nations Capital should be poised to take advantage of the opportunities that our neighbor, President Obama, spelled out in his State of the Union Address, but they need to be in class and stay in school to do that. Hence, it is up to District government ofcials to use the big stick approach: Empower schools and MPD ofcials to work collaboratively and simply to bring every repeat or chronic truant back to school, each and every day, where they belong. Thank you, Martin Moulton @ShawingtonTimes cc: DCPS Chancellor Henderson MPD Deputy Chief Dianne Groomes (who attended all of the Tuesday 12 February 2012 hearing)

http://www.dccouncil.us/les/user_uploads/event_testimony/B20_72_DRAFT_Agenda_Feb1213.pdf Legislation # B20-0072 / Attendance Accountability Amendment Act Of 2013: http://Dcclims1.Dccouncil.Us/Lims/Searchbylegislation.Aspx http://www.davidcatania.com/images//what%20the%20straight%20a%20act%20does.pdf