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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The messaging about the importance of attendance is getting more and more aggressive. And now also kind of racist.

"December Attendance
Every year, absences spike in the weeks before and after winter break. It’s time to break that cycle. Give your child the gift of attendance and help build a habit of attendance.

We recognize that holidays are an important time for reconnecting with families far away and exposing your children to your home and language, whether you grew up in another part of the United States or a different country. The price of plane tickets often influences when you want to travel. But keep in mind the costs to your children’s education if they miss too much school.

Make sure your child is in school every day, right up until vacation starts. Our teachers will be teaching, and our students will be learning. But it’s harder to teach and it’s harder to learn when too many students are absent.

Two weeks to go! Let's finish strong. Winter break is December 22nd through January 2nd. School resumes on January 5th, 2026."[/quote]

[b]This letter is not aggressive and every part of it is true.[/b]  When I taught in buildings where kids were going to their home countries over break, we had kids who missed 3-4 weeks of school on either side of the break.  About 3-5% of our kids missed 40+ days of school each year.  That makes learning impossible.  And no, I'm not referring to kids with chronic health issues.  If a kid misses one day before or after break and only missed 5-8 days over the course of the year, they'll be fine.  But when we start talking more than 5% of the year, that's a problem.  It's a problem particularly for kids who are below level.  Fyi, I think teacher attendance is just as important.[/quote]

Well the part that isn’t true is the statement “our teachers will be teaching” considering how many are out next week.  [/quote]

How many do you think will actually be out? I'm guessing it'll be fewer than 5% will be out at all (unless they are sick), and fewer than 1% will be out the entire week. [/quote]

Probably over 5% and it doesn’t even matter. One teacher abroad is permission for one class (probably a grade) of parents to do the same. No one is interested in penalizing their kids to meet the suckers half of a double standard.[/quote]

A single teacher out is "so many" that you feel it will affect an entire grade? :roll:

So if a single chemistry teacher is out, that means the entire tenth grade is affected? You can't actually be that deluded, can you? Come on. [/quote]

Affected academically, no, but fully aware this “prioritize school over vacation!” isn’t applied to the teachers. So when there’s another email the whole grade will remember Mr. Jones was out, and when there’s a cheap flight to Europe this Spring parents will not think twice about booking it.[/quote]

Let’s say 5% of the teachers are out. That means 95% of them are at work, doing exactly what you want them to do. They aren’t prioritizing vacations, yet you’re acting as if all teachers are taking part in some huge double standard.

For my part, my kids are staying in school. [/quote]

I don’t “want” them to do anything. Their boss says families should spend money to travel on the most expensive days of the year to prioritize being in the classes they’re not teaching because they wanted those cheaper flights he talks about in his email.

I’m glad they’re getting time with their families, and will have absolutely no problem taking time with mine, with exactly the same regard to the principals email that the absent teachers showed.[/quote]

Okay? Then stop making it about the teachers. They didn’t send the email and most (the huge majority) are staying at school.

If you’re so offended, then write the principal and tell him. Then take a vacation out of spite and be done with it. [/quote]
Amen[/quote]

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