Missing Persons
Where Are Your Kids, Idaho?
By Shea Andersen, 1-27-06
As of today, nearly 14,000 Idaho children are unaccounted for by Idaho's school system.
Truant? Maybe. Home-schooled? Probably quite a few. On drugs? Who knows? Headed for jail? Possibly.
The whole point is, for one out of every 15 school-aged children in Idaho, we just don't know. Not a clue.
The missing-persons report came out today after Boise State University researchers spent a year trying, and failing, to track Idaho's kids.
Deep in the report is the fact that because home-schooled kids aren't tracked by the state, we have no idea of knowing just what happens to a kid when they disappear from school rolls. The study quotes some education officials as saying things like "We have no idea, and no responsibility to report," or, "I don't have a clue. There is no law; therefore there is no way of knowing."
Considering that Idaho has barely 1.4 million people in the state, according to the 2004 Census, the number is a wee bit shocking.
The Associated Press hopped on the story, and you can read their report here. In there you'll find quotes from home-school advocates who say the report is flawed, and that kids are getting an education in Idaho.
The problem there is that Idaho takes them at their word, and the kids disappear. Without any sort of communication between home-schoolers and school districts, it's going to be difficult for Idaho to effectively track and guide education in the state.
Certainly lots of anti-government folks (of which we have many) will say, "that's fine." The whole reason they're in home school situations is because they dispute the way Idaho takes care of its children's education.
But Idaho joins some unfortunate company in this regard. Idaho’s “missing students� figures are nearly twice the national average of 3.5 percent and the 16th highest among all 50 states. Nationwide, 1.7 million children cannot be identified with any educational institution.
The report is in the hands of Idaho lawmakers, who are still trying to figure out how to pay for new school buildings. They might consider building one big one: according to the BSU study, if all these missing students were put together, they'd create the state's third-largest school district.
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Comments
Boy, I'm glad I live in New Jersey, where the State knows that kids belong to their families!