Minor point, Sarah, but I didn't like how you said "demoted back to the classroom" in your first paragraph. That demeans the professionals who are in the classroom and continues to promote the falsely held belief that classroom teachers are the "entry-level" positions and should seek higher level administrative positions in order to be more valued.

I know this was not your intent, but we must start changing our nomenclature from here. It is not a demotion to be sent back to a classroom from an administrative job. And as a school system, we should be creating more ways for our brightest and best teachers to find higher satisfaction and pay whilst still being able to stay as classroom teachers, instead of needing to move to Administrative roles.

"a chronic truant, defined as having 20 or more absences. More than 7,000 students met that criteria last school year." - Unfortunately the definition of Truancy in MD, PA and DE does not actually include students who are over the age of 16, who have not dropped out and are without jobs.

I know this because I am the non-custodial parent of my daughter who is not attending school in either PA where her mother (the custodial parent) lives, nor MD where I live. The reason she does not attend school is because her mother and stepfather failed to use the child support ordered to pay the tuition owed for her Catholic School education and now that school, Archbishop Predergast High School in Drexel Hill, PA will not release her transcripts to the public school - who con not complete her enrollment until the transcripts have been sent.

Leaving me to have to pay the additional tuition, which had already been included in the support I had been paying over the years, just to get the school to release the transcripts - already too late for my daughter to start her Senior Year.

I attempted to force the School to release the transcripts on the grounds that it forces truancy on students - where the law was thrown back in my face that it does not apply because my daughter is now 17.

So much for no child left behind huh!

Good point, Artie, and I apologize for not wording the sentence more carefully. Unfortunately, though, teaching jobs have lower salaries than these central office jobs. (PSASA members are entitled to keep their higher salary for one year after the transfer.)

The director of safe and supportive schools was great. She secured the multi million grant for Dubois. She's done a ton for the students of Baltimore and was cast aside. But Bundley gets to float around the city and run the alternative schools. Guess the drama over Walbrook is forgotten. oh, I forgot he's part of the new network running things below AAA. Seems we've replaced the sorority with fraternity in the upper ranks. Don't get me wrong I'm ok with men taking some top positions I just hate the same old networks rigging the system.

In my interactions with Brice I've learned he's a nice guy but all talk. "wraparound services" isn't the answer unless we actually have them as a system, I don't think he knows what the schools actually deal with. Sorry swinging through on a visit doesn't tell you much.

Brian McNally - If you live in Baltimore and want to enroll your child in a City School, go to your child's zone school or to North Avenue's Office of Student Placement and DEMAND to have your child enrolled. The fact that you cannot get a transcript or records from the "sending" school in PA should not overly delay your daughter's enrollment. When students are homeless or come to a new school district from a natural disaster (think Iowa floods or the recent hurricane in Texas), they usually cannot produce any records. The child should STILL be enrolled and the records situation dealt with later. If you get any pushback, contact Jonathan Brice's office. (Again, this assumes you live in the city.) Good luck.

I'd like to know if there is anyone wiling to help my husband and I with our 'truant' child. My husband has a child with his ex-wife, lives one street away (we are in Anne Arundel) where this year as a sixth grader the child was absent 16 days (only four were considered excused becuase they were part of two separate suspensions). I have contacted social services who claim it is not there place; mom has not once responded to any calls, mailings or mesages from the school for incomplete work, failing grades, inapprorpriate behavior (resulting in the last three weeks of school to be removed to an alternatvie room then suspended. At the reinstatement meeting, which mom refused to go to, we asked school what where they goign to do- the principal was upset that I contacted the AA susperintendent for our school area, his boss- and said they do not get involved...the 13 y/o boy cannot give his adress or phone number, date of birth, in most cases can't give days of the week or months of the year (this yo-yo visitation has been going on since he was 3, and his older half brother who sexualy molested him is living in the house), but no one can do anything becuase it could result in a lawsuit? No one cares anymore, and I am at the point, if professionals don't care, why should I?

Anyone feel free to contactme at mortuarygirlz@yahoo.com