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The problem becomes enforcement. The article says:
Currently, parents can be fined up to $200 for not ensuring their children attend school and probation orders can be issued requiring students attend class. However, failure to comply with an order could mean a stint behind bars if a judge deems it necessary, Kennedy acknowledged.
After working on adolescent psych units for 9 years, I can honestly say that if a kid is determined to not be in school, they won't go to school. If a 17 year old boy decides he's not going, there isn't a lot a parent can do. You can't pick them up and put them in the car. If you get them to the car, take them to the school and walk them into the building, there is nothing stopping them from walking back out again as soon as you're gone. And, if you jail parents for not getting their kids to stay in school, then the kid also doesn't have a parent.
I do like the idea of more apprentice or trades oriented programs and I think these can be very successful because not every kid is academic and some can really excel at a trade.
Another incentive they've tried in Michigan (and I don't know how successful it has been) is not allowing drop outs to have driver's licenses. That makes more sense to me, because it says "If you're not responsible enough to finish school, then you're not responsible enough to drive a car".
Dee
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