Washington Informer

After years of ineffective initiatives and task forces, coupled with a lack of concern from parents, school and city officials, the District of Columbia is finally getting serious about truancy.

It begins with D.C. Council member David Catania's (D-At-Large) "Attendance Accountability Amendment Act of 2013," which included a provision for the parents and guardians of chronically-absent students to be put in jail. But the bill was amended in a 5-0 vote on March 27 by the council's newly- resurrected Education Committee to exclude the requirement of jail time.

"I'm pleased that this legislation is moving forward and that this government will finally get serious about the rampant truancy among District students," said Catania, 45, who chairs the Committee. "The Committee has been willing to listen to the community and stakeholders, and I believe that we have crafted legislation that will work."

Dating back to the administration of former Mayor Anthony Williams, truancy has been cited as one of the main reasons for low test scores and low graduation rates in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system.

And, with about 2,000 students marked truant each day, the District's rate of chronic absenteeism has the distinction of being one of the worst in the nation.

Among major points outlined in Catania's amended legislation is inclusion of "The Straight A Act" – which expands efforts to put into place, an effective and comprehensive response to truancy in the District. That action will be supported by last year's "South Capitol Street Tragedy Memorial Act of 2011" which will be the basis for delivery of related school-based interventions and services. The Memorial Act, which was crafted by Catania in 2010 following a drive-by shooting in Southeast in which four teenagers died, calls for an expansion of mental health services to students, and increased behavioral health screening at District agencies that deal with youth.

The bill also mandates that schools notify the police, Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and Court Social Services when students between the ages of 14 and 17 accumulate their 15th unexcused absence. In addition, with the exception of extreme cases, the bill offers recommendations for schools to reduce or eliminate the use of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.

In his original bill which was introduced in January, Catania sought the prosecution of parents after their children missed 20 days of unexcused absences from school.

However, during a Feb. 23 meeting at Anne Beers Elementary School in Southeast, Catania was reminded that a similar law had already been enacted in the District, but was rarely enforced by the District's attorney general, Nathan Irvin. That mandate imposes a $100 fine or up to five days in jail for parents, if a student misses more than two days of school.

To that end, the watered-down version of Catania's legislation leaves the current mandate intact, but doesn't require prosecution after students accumulate two unexcused absences in one month.

"Taking children away from their homes or putting parents of truant children in jail should be, as they are now, rare and extreme measures of keeping children in the classroom," Irvin said in a February interview.

Rita Jackson, a Southeast resident who has worked with DCPS students in after-school programs, said that although truancy seriously needs to be dealt with, sending parents to jail is not the answer.

"Truancy in this city has been going on for decades . . . but it seemed like with Catania's bill they were just trying to put parents in jail to help fill up the cells,'' Jackson said. "Putting parents in jail would be wrong because many would end up with a record or losing their jobs or both."

Both Mayor Vincent C. Gray, 70, and Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry had assailed Catania's jail proposal, but said after the bill's revision that they were glad the matter was generating more attention.

Barry, 76, was particularly pleased, saying, "the bottom line [had been] that there [were] no real consequences if these kids [didn't] show up for school."

While Barry maintained that city officials – including DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson – had not taken truancy seriously enough, Lee F. Satterfield, a judge in the D.C. Superior Court, stated in a recent editorial that in 2011, after Gray sought to address truancy, a citywide task force was created.

Satterfield, 54, wrote that his colleague, Judge Zoe Bush who presides over family court issues, approached Henderson about re-starting a truancy diversion program involving judges, principals, school attendance counselors and mental health professionals. The program would be similar to the Citywide Truancy Task Force, that fell by the wayside four years ago when Adrian Fenty was mayor.

"To her credit, Henderson did not give us the polite 'no,' as Rhee did, but agreed to programs in two middle schools," Satterfield wrote. "Unfortunately, school officials dragged their feet for so long that by the time the programs were approved, half of the school year was over, dramatically reducing what could be accomplished."

The Rev. Anthony Motley knows a thing or two about being truant.

“I was a truant twice. The first time after I got home, the truant officer was sitting in my living room,” the retired educator told his amused audience. “The second time after I skipped, the next day my pastor was sitting in my classroom,” he said to resounding laughter.

But having people other than his mother – who worked a full-time job admonish the mischievous youth for his indifference toward school, not only embarrassed him, it made Motley realize the seriousness of his actions.

“We’ve got to go into these homes. We’ve got to sit with these parents,” said Motley, whose sentiments were shared by the diverse crowd of more than 100 people. Despite the cold winds and steady rain, teachers, ministers, parents, students and community activists showed up Feb. 23 at Anne Beers Elementary School in Southeast with their attention focused on one thing: the truancy crisis in the District.

“Truancy is a complicated issue . . . however, it’s a core value that also affects graduation rates,” said panelist Ian Roberts, principal at Anacostia Senior High School in Southeast, who added that truancy is most rampant among ninth-graders. Roberts said that among reasons cited for students’ refusal to come to school are transportation issues and their parents’ job schedules.

As a result of having to get younger siblings ready for school, older children are often late, which in many cases has led to truancy, he said.

The two-hour forum was sponsored by the Hillcrest Civic Association and moderated by president, De’Andre Anderson. Other panelists for the meeting that attracted primarily residents from the affluent Hillcrest community where Mayor Vincent C. Gray and other city officials live, included District Family Court Judge Zoe Bush, D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-Large), Beers Elementary counselor Jeffrey Brown, and Adele Fabrikant, who participated on behalf of Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson.

Truancy generally begins at the middle school level, and in D.C., students who miss at least 10 days of unexcused absences are classified as truant.

However, among the 2,000 students who are marked truant each day, a growing number are enrolled in elementary schools.

“It starts at that level, [increasing by] grade six and getting worse by the ninth-grade,” Fabrikant said.

Fabrikant also emphasized that reducing truancy is a shared responsibility, and that the chancellor is fully committed to providing resources needed to reduce the numbers.

Stating that the school day for D.C. students begins at 8:45 a.m. until 3:15 p.m., Fabrikant said there are specific guidelines school officials have to abide by in determining excused and unexcused absences.

She said however, that students who miss at least 60 percent of the school day will receive an unexcused absence for the entire day; and parents of students with five unexcused absences will be asked to participate in a truancy conference. Elementary and middle school students with 10 unexcused absences will be referred to the District’s Family and Child Services Agency for suspected educational neglect, and from there cases can end up in court.

“Very often, judges are constants in young people’s lives and we have dedicated and well-trained judges [to deal with truant students],” said Bush, who’s presided over the District’s Family Court for the past three years. “The judge is that person who pushes others to provide youth with the support and services they need to [offset truancy which is aligned with poverty],” Bush said. “But [we] can’t wait to cure poverty to address truancy, as one issue is just as complex as the other.”

Bush added that there are no simple solutions to eradicating truancy but with parents, teachers and school administrators and communities working together, the issue can be effectively dealt with.

“With real energy and focus, I think this is something that we can really turn around, although it will take a while,” Bush said.

Catania, who chairs the council’s education committee, believes one way to deal with truant middle schoolers is to bring in young mentors who students can more easily relate to. He also noted that home visits are helpful in determining barriers to school attendance, and that in many instances the visits have helped to improve attendance and test scores.

But while Catania said about 70 percent of parents have no legitimate reason for their children’s chronic absenteeism, Motley, also a family counselor, countered that most of the parents Catania referred to, know why their children are truant but won’t say so.

“Nine times out of 10 those parents don’t want to reveal the real reasons and it’s going to take more than asking the question one time [to get them to open up],” Motley said. “I’ve known that as a counselor, that what we see on the surface is not what’s really [going on].”

Brown, a former D.C. police officer, concurred.

“When you have a relationship with parents, you have a completely different environment and parents are more likely to give the real reason for truancy,” Brown said to nods of agreement from the crowd.

“It’s not one piece [for dealing with truancy] or the other, but if we don’t address it [starting at the elementary level] we’ll be back again and again discussing the same issue.”

Meanwhile, Henderson’s plan to close schools could lead to increased truancy.

Ward 7 activist Ron Moten denounced the chancellor’s plan to shutter 15 schools over the next two years, saying that action will certainly lead to truancy.

Moten said part of the solution lies in placing teachers in classrooms that students can relate to, and creating programs such as the student prayer breakfast at Ballou Senior High School in Southeast, that has attracted former truants back to the classroom.

“We did some out-of-the-box kinds of things,” Moten said of efforts at Ballou that date back to 2008, and helped to increase the graduation rate by 13 percent, he said.

“We taught our kids their history and what people went through so that they could have an education,” said Moten. “We kind of shamed them into taking education seriously.”

A spokesperson for the District of Columbia Public Schools system said she has no answers regarding how a list of school closings recently found its way onto the Internet -- except to say that the list -- which includes 38 schools -- is inaccurate.

"We have no idea where this list came from, but it's not from DCPS," Melissa Salmonowitz said in an email on Friday to The Washington Informer. However, "we look forward to announcing our proposed consolidations soon."

While DCPS is in the process of merging under-enrolled school buildings, parents and community groups and leaders—who were reminded of the 23 school closings ordered shortly after former chancellor Michelle Rhee took over in 2008 -- are lashing out.

Dorothy Douglas, who represents Ward 7 on the D.C. School Board, said she wasn't familiar with the fake list, but has been well aware of ongoing talks to close schools – most of which are located in the city's poorest wards.

"I know that plans call for some of the schools like those in wards 7 and 8 be closed due to low enrollment," Douglas said. "But I expressed to Mayor [Vincent] Gray and [Ward 7 Council member] Yvette Alexander that a decision to close schools without getting parents involved is not the solution. The parents are supposed to be the first ones to know what's going on, and that's not been the case, [so] they're upset."

A list of schools recommended for shuttering was provided to the Districts' deputy mayor for education earlier this year by the Chicago-based Illinois Facility Fund, and suggests that some of D.C.'s lower-performing schools be merged with high-performing charter facilities.

"That's not going to work," said parent Annette Douglas, 43,of Southeast who opposes combining DCPS with charter schools.

There are many reasons why she said. "For one, you can't mix students from Southwest with students from Southeast without expecting issues like violence to occur, it's going to be too problematic."

But contrary to Dorothy Douglas's sentiments, Ward 8 School Board candidate Phil Pannell said it makes good sense to close schools that are under-enrolled and to merge others.

He said that in many instances, under-enrolled buildings have already negatively impacted the ability to ensure key programs and services at other schools.

"For example, the new Ballou Senior High School [in Ward 8] lacks an ROTC program because the school can't afford it," Pannell said.

The D.C. Council has scheduled two hearings on recommended closings to be led by At-Large Council member Phil Mendelson. The forums will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15 and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 19 in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building in downtown D.C.

Ward 5 Council member Kenyan McDuffie said in a statement, that in anticipation of the hearings, he'd been in touch with Chancellor Kaya Henderson's office to schedule a discussion on the matter. He hopes to meet with her next week.

"At this juncture DCPS has not made the closure list available to the Council or to the public," McDuffie said. "In response to the list being circulated on [the Internet], my office has contacted DCPS and confirmed that this list is inaccurate. Once DCPS officially releases school closure information, my office will make it available and work with the community to respond accordingly."

The Washington Informer will publish a more in-depth article surrounding recommended school closings in the Nov. 8 print edition.

President Barack Obama came prepared to be tough in Monday's final debate with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and he won, portraying his moderate Republican opponent as an unstable leader.

During the 90-minute face-off on foreign policy, which was moderated by CBS News' Bob Schieffer and held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., Obama took an aggressive stance citing that it's been under his leadership that the war in Iraq has ended, brought Osama bin Laden to justice, restored America's standing around the world and effected a reduced threat of loose nuclear material.

"My job is to keep the American people safe and that's what I've done," said Obama. "When we received the phone call [about the attack in Libya] we did everything to secure Americans in harm's way . . . We will go after those who killed Americans and bring them to justice."

Romney, who agreed with Obama on many foreign policy issues, countered that his strategy is to go after the bad guys as well. However, "We must be able to get the Muslim world to reject extremism on its own . . . We have to help nations create civil societies."

Obama responded in part that he's made sure "those (Muslim) countries are supporting our counter terrorism efforts, and that we recognize we can't continue to do nation-building in those regions," when it's particularly needed at home.

Other highlights of the debate included these statements:

Romney: "It is important that we see Syria as a friend and an important party in the Mideast."

Obama: "We've been neglecting developing our economy while trying to develop leadership in other countries."

Romney: "Our purpose is to make sure the world is more peaceful, and that mantle has fallen on America."

Obama: "Romney has taken a different approach throughout the campaign with wrong and reckless policies."

Romney: "[When elected] I will increase trade . . . especially in Latin America".

Obama: "Israel is a true friend, ally. . . We will stand with Israel if they are attacked."

Romney: "When I'm president, we will stand with Israel. Our mission is to dissuade Iran from having nuclear weapons."

Obama: "Our goal is to get Iran to realize it needs to give up its nuclear program."

Romney: "Iran has found weaknesses in the [Obama] administration."

Obama: "Afghanistan was America's longest war; will have troops out by 2014."

Romney: "What happens in Pakistan will have a major impact on what happens in Afghanistan . . . Not time to divorce Pakistan. It has no civilian leadership that's calling the shots."

Both Obama and Romney agreed that while America can work with China, it has to play by the rules. "From day one, I labeled them a currency manipulator," said Romney. "I want a great relationship with China, but they can't just roll all over us." Again, Obama agreed.

However, in his closing remarks Obama said Romney wants to take America back to policies the country has spent the past four years digging its way out of. "I want to ask the wealthy to do a little more," Obama said.

Romney promised that when he's elected to get people back to work. "We have to have a president who can work across the aisle," he said. "[Washington,] D.C. is broken and I know what it takes to get it back."

Political strategist Donna Brazile said that hands down, Obama was the clear winner in the debate.

"This thing is so close right now that both sides have got to go after their base," Brazile said. "But Barack Obama won because he had a strategy that this is a time to have a strong leader in the White House."

The D.C. Council will present two hearings next month to allow the public to comment regarding recommended school closures in the city.

The hearings, to be led by At-Large Council member Phil Mendelson, will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15 and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 19 in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building in downtown D.C.

According to a hearing notice, the Council "expects that [District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Kaya Henderson] will have announced proposed school closings the week before the hearings."

Last year DeShawn Wright, deputy mayor for education, commissioned the Illinois Facility Fund (IFF) to conduct a study which separated schools into tiers and ranked them in accordance with standardized test score results.

The study offered five recommendations that include closing or turning around several DCPS Schools and replacing them with high-performing publicly-funded charter school.

The study was funded by the Wal-Mart Foundation and several other interests -- which like IFF -- are heavily invested in charter schools.

The Council expects to schedule at least 50 witnesses for each hearing, and the deadline for signing up to testify is Nov. 13. Speakers will deliver their testimony in the order their requests were received.

DCPS's boundaries haven't changed much over the past few decades, and the Council will also listen to testimony surrounding the School Boundary Review Act -- which would require the school system to regularly review and adjust boundaries and feeder patterns.

It's not uncommon to become so totally engrossed in the pressures of everyday life that many people end up neglecting their health. They may feel good for the moment, but be unaware of conditions that could lead to major medical issues.

That's part of the reason behind nationally-syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner's 11th annual "Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day (TALOTTD)," being held this weekend, Oct. 19-20, in the District of Columbia – and other cities that include Philadelphia, Pa., and Greenville, SC.

"There's nothing better than a loved one showing they care for you by taking you to the doctor," said John Miller, CEO and president of Denny's restaurants, which is a major sponsor of this year's TALOTTD. "[The two-day health fair] provides a fantastic opportunity for people to check in on their well-being. The doctor's going to talk to you about the importance of exercise and a good diet."

Friday's one-day event in the District included a free "Screening for Stroke Prevention," which was sponsored by Majic 102.3 in conjunction with Providence Hospital, located at 1150 Varnum St. in Northeast. The four-hour morning presentation featured information from several Providence physicians, and Majic 102.3 listeners were encouraged to tune into until 7 p.m. for additional information on how to prevent a stroke.

"We had a pretty good turn out," said Lauren Wells, Provident Hospital public relations specialist. "We had about 65 people who had their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked, and others had the opportunity to undergo a chronic diagnostic which takes a look at their arteries. We also had diabetic educators on hand, and many of the people who visited left with a score card that indicated their risk for stroke."

About Take a Loved One to the Doctor

Community Enrichment:

Take A Loved One to the Doctor® (TALOTTD) is a targeted campaign to raise health awareness in the Black community. This initiative launched in 2002 between the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS) and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration. Since then, Tom Joyner continues to encourage his listeners to be proactive about their health by making appointments for themselves and a loved one to visit health professionals.