Count Day Costs
| By Mike Tenbusch - Sep 29, 2008 4:11:16 PM ET |
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Categories: Education, Volunteerism, Advocacy, Giving, How I Live United, Other, The LiveUnitedSEM Network
Categories: Education, Volunteerism, Advocacy, Giving, How I Live United, Other, The LiveUnitedSEM Network
"Count Day" is the process by which schools throughout Michigan account for the actual pupils in their building in order to be reimbursed by the State, but the way it is marketed is a mis-education for parents, students, and the public at large.
First, the term "Count Day" is itself a misnomer. Count Day is actually a ten-day period, and the fourth Wednesday after Labor Day is simply the first day in that accounting period.
Second, the concept of incentivizing students to come to school on this one day is representative of the emphasis being on the wrong things.
One suburban district, for example, is giving parents a chance to win a car by enrolling their child on Count Day--almost one full month into the school year. ("Get your kid in school today, win a car: Districts using incentives for full ranks on count day." Detroit Free Press, 1B, Sept. 22, 2008). By contrast, at University Prep Academy in Detroit--a K-12 charter school district that boasts a high school graduation rate of 90 percent--Count Day is just like any other day. Because this school does a phenomenal job of engaging its students every day of the school year, it does not need to offer extravagant incentives to draw students to the classroom on Count Day.
Third, if parents are not taking their children to school for the ten-day period in which a student can be counted, the school should fulfill its legally mandated duty of filing a complaint for child neglect and abuse--not offering them unsustainable incentives.
We need more schools where teachers are accountable for a targeted group of kids, generally between 12 and 20, not just for Count Day but also for getting them through four years of high school and into college.
We need more schools were every kid counts every day.
First, the term "Count Day" is itself a misnomer. Count Day is actually a ten-day period, and the fourth Wednesday after Labor Day is simply the first day in that accounting period.
Second, the concept of incentivizing students to come to school on this one day is representative of the emphasis being on the wrong things.
One suburban district, for example, is giving parents a chance to win a car by enrolling their child on Count Day--almost one full month into the school year. ("Get your kid in school today, win a car: Districts using incentives for full ranks on count day." Detroit Free Press, 1B, Sept. 22, 2008). By contrast, at University Prep Academy in Detroit--a K-12 charter school district that boasts a high school graduation rate of 90 percent--Count Day is just like any other day. Because this school does a phenomenal job of engaging its students every day of the school year, it does not need to offer extravagant incentives to draw students to the classroom on Count Day.
Third, if parents are not taking their children to school for the ten-day period in which a student can be counted, the school should fulfill its legally mandated duty of filing a complaint for child neglect and abuse--not offering them unsustainable incentives.
We need more schools where teachers are accountable for a targeted group of kids, generally between 12 and 20, not just for Count Day but also for getting them through four years of high school and into college.
We need more schools were every kid counts every day.
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