Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 1, 2007

Click here to view bill details.

Well done! This piece of legislation actually makes sense. How pathetic that some districts feel that they have to stoop to rewarding the kids for showing up. How lazy have we become as parents that our children would even need to be rewarded for showing up to school?

Excellent job, sir. While I do not believe that one day should place such a heavy toll on Districts - an average of perhaps 4-6 days per year might work better - I also believe that offering students bribes for attending on one particular day of the year in order to garner funds sends a message we should not want our students to hear. The message our District sends to our students is, "We want you two days per year - when you can get an extra buck sent to our school. After that, we simply do not give a damn." I'm a teacher in Detroit Public Schools and our ailing District spent tens of thousands of dollars on bribes last year in an attempt to boost numbers. Taxpayer dollars could be much better spent in putting books in all classrooms rather than a laptop and color televison in a few students' hands.

Especially, school districts should not recruit their students who moved to Atlanta with their parents now employed in Atlanta--previously unemployed in Michigan. This really happened. Sounds a lot like the Michigan promise or the Kalamzoo Promise. Should we ban that too?

...no announcement of the date of 'Count Day?' Or three or four 'Count Days' and then take the average?

I agree to keep the count day unknown to the public. Taking a count at 3 or 4 different times of year and averaging them would allow for a more accurate count. Sending the message that everyday is important and the students are expected to be in school regardless needs to be stressed. Giving expense prizes to the class and used as a teacher's aide for the benefit of the whole class would be a better use of the money. Make the students earn a pizza lunch at the end of the year with a miniumum, mandatory attendance for that year.

Don't lump the Kalamazoo promise in with bribing students for one-day's attendance. To receive the Kalamazoo scholarship, students need to stay in school, receive passing grades and graduate! I'm not in K-zoo, but I don't have any problem with rewarding this level of student commitment. However, having a raffle for a TV because you happened to come to school on one specific day is ridiculous!

I talked to my son's principal. The Count Day isn't actually one day now. Because of allowable absenteeism, the count is actually an average of about a week surrounding the actual day. So, all these schools that make sure they have a one-day bump don't get the full benefit unless those kids actually stay around for a while! Regardless, it's a bad message to bribe kids to come to school.

The whole thinking behind the push for count day is wrong. It should be a random, unannounced day. Let's try to convey that attendance is ALWAYS important; that we want our kids in school because it's important to their future and their development.

in terms of employee use of time and paper letters and phone calls to confirm where they were. It's CHEAPER to promise some trifle of an incentive to have 100% attendance. So there! We are not WASTEFUL. We are practical and efficient problem solvers.

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Teachers always stress the importance of being in school. However, when funding is held over the school's head based on kids being in school, it can't hurt to let people know the day it is going to be counted "officially". It is important to be in school for educations sake-- but for funding sake, we need to count all the students at a school!!

Gave up teaching in favor of indoctrination long ago. People are disgusted and you can see it in the number of millages voted down lately. It's time for teachers and their union to check their agendas at the door and do what they are paid for and that is to teach.

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