Circling the Drain

As we have been saying for decades, if you don't have consequences for bad behavior, you will get more of it. Here it is again:

• Forty percent of Chicago Public Schools students miss 10 percent (or more) of school without a valid excuse. How do we know that? Because the Illinois State Board of Education produces an easy-to-understand “report card” for every school in the state.

  But that report card is changing as the state pushes to better gauge improvement, regardless of a school’s individual challenges.

  Part of the rebrand is deleting the term “chronic absenteeism.” Schools will no longer be downgraded if students fail to show up, but a school’s overall grade can be “lifted” if students demonstrate “consistent attendance.”

So if students "consistently" show up 89% of the time, well....that's consistent, right? Even if it tops the 10% threshold that indicates a problem.

And they won't be holding school personnel, administrators or parents for that matter accountable. 

But you know what their solution will be when kids can't read at grade level when they're pushed out the door? More taxes for a failing product.