The State Board of Education`s recent report card on Illinois public schools should be a wake-up call to how serious a problem truancy has become- not only for our schools but for the community and the criminal justice system as well.
Statewide, a record 35,400 public school students were classified as
”chronic truants” during the 1990-91 school year-a 15 percent jump from 1989-90, and a 66 percent increase over the last six years. In Chicago, on a typical day, 10 percent of elementary and high school students are truant.
Truancy levels such as these create enormous security, curriculum and financial problems for local schools (state reimbursement is based on average daily attendance). Even more troubling are the effects that truancy has on dropout rates, juvenile delinquency and public safety. A recent survey by the Criminal Justice Information Authority found that 72 percent of Illinois prison inmates are high school dropouts. For most of them, a history of chronic truancy preceded their dropout and criminal activity.
It`s more than coincidence that as the state`s high school grad-uation rate dropped from almost 83 percent in 1987 to 78 percent in 1989, the incarceration rate increased from 172 to 194 inmates per 100,000 population.
Truancy is a reflection of family and social problems, and a precursor to serious and costly crime problems. Truancy can be reduced through creative, comprehensive programs. It is time for the entire community-parents, teachers, students, law enforcement officers, school board officials and legislators-to face up to this problem and to confront it head on.
