State rep proposes fines for truant parents

Kids are used to the routine of bringing a note to school when they've been absent from something, right? But soon, parents might have to get into it, too — at least those who miss scheduled parent-teacher conferences, that is. Under a bill before the state Legislature, parents who skip out on teacher conferences could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $500 if they don't present a "reasonable excuse" for missing the meeting.

Rep. Wayne Smith of Baytown, who introduced the bill, said he's not sure exactly how much of a problem the state faces from parents who don't show up to conferences, but he knows it's an issue: "It's certainly worse than when I had the kids in school," he told The Dallas Morning News. "The concept is to get parents into the classroom. If the child has education or learning problems, or disciplinary problems, the parents need to know about it. They need to discuss it with the teacher because the child's future is at stake." Smith didn't specify what a "reasonable excuse" is — that decision would probably be left to local school officials — but a medical emergency would probably qualify, he said.

Education officials told the Morning News that encouraging parents to take a more active role in their kids' education is a good idea, but they asked whether charging parents with a crime when they miss conferences is the best way to do it. "We certainly appreciate the intent of the bill, which is to increase parental involvement in their child's education. But we're not sure criminalizing their behavior is the way to achieve that," Larry Comer of the Association of Texas Professional Educators said. And Richard Kouri of the Texas State Teachers Association said the proposal points to a more general trend of parents getting detached from their children's lives. "[It's] a sad state of affairs when we have to start fining parents to get them to come to school and talk about their children, but apparently it is reaching that point," he said.

Details still have to be worked out before the bill passes — for example, what counts as adequate notice for a parent that a conference is needed, how many notices would have to be sent and what happens if a parent claims he or she called ahead to cancel, but the teacher doesn't hear about it. "It sounds like it might be a little too much work for both sides," Rep. Rob Eissler of The Woodlands, chairman of the House Public Education Committee — which is expected to consider the bill — said.