A Child's "Nightmare"
In the 1940's in Missouri, children in the primary grades at my school were taught to fear the "Truant Officer". Truancy was a petty crime; the failure of a child to attend school. The reasons did not matter. If you were not there when the roll was called, and the teacher had not been notified in advance, you were reported as "truant". There was also the dreaded "Reform School" at Booneville, where they sent small children, and, we were told, beat them until the blood on the floor was ankle deep. The Truant Officer roamed the streets looking for children who should be in school.
I relate this to show that, for a very long time in this country, public school was a precursor to the prison system. The economic reason underlying the truancy laws was found in the method the State used to fund the schools (student-days-attended). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truancy
For concerns having to do with public order, improved education levels, and discipline; the public, black and white, generally supported these laws.
Fast-forward 70 years, and the horror has a new face. In that part of our country described by a prominent legislator as a "Hell Hole", the schools have become malignant "Hell Holes" that shuttle black and brown children into our Prison-Industrial System. The trail now leads directly to profits on Wall Street! There are other "benefits": criminal records for minority children will prohibit them from getting legitimate jobs, deny them their right to vote, and commit them to a lifetime of recidivism. In those parts of this country, truancy has become a white supremacist's dream!
The quality of the output from our school/education system at all levels in this country, has steadily declined over the years; leaving us in a position where we may never be able to regain globally-competitive status for anyone's child! We're stupid enough to continue thinking that politicians can solve this problem -- also???
Stay Vigilant! To save one, we must save them all! Run for School Board!
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