Just what the world needs: more legislative study committees. At last count, the state Senate has 18 and there are 16 in the state House of Representatives.
According to Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns, the purpose of these study committees is to hold public meetings, gather input, and then prepare findings and recommendations ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
But I’m guessing they have an additional purpose to give legislators an excuse to get out of town so they don’t have to answer a lot of questions from constituents. (“Ms. Baumgardner, I would love to sit and explain to you why I believe stripmining the Okefenokee for toothpaste whitener is vital to our national security. Still, I must get to the aquarium before it closes. I just can’t wait to see those adorable little penguins.”)
Among the committees established are the House Study Committee on the Costs & Effects of Smoking. (I assume they will conclude that smoking is bad for your health); House Study Committee on Gaming in Georgia (Goal: What are the odds we can sneak casinos by the Baptists?); Senate Study Committee on Intoxicating Cannabinoids in Consumable Hemp Products (Likely assumption: A friend with bad weed is no friend indeed.)
This leads me to the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools. Sen. John F. Kennedy (R-Macon) will chair this study committee. As a public service, I thought I might get right to the bottom line so the committee can spend their time enjoying the penguins.
The answer to chronic absenteeism, as with most any other problem, is that our schools are spelled P-A-R-E-N-T. The buck stops there. If a parent wants to see their kids get a good education, they will.
If they demand their kids go to class, they will. If they expect their kids to do their homework, they will. On the other hand, if they don’t care if their little urchin makes it to school, it is pretty likely their children won’t.
End of story.
I have a feeling that Sen. Kennedy’s study committee will overlook that obvious fact and come up with some sociological psychobabble intended to prove that the state needs to allocate more tax dollars for private school vouchers, since private schools don’t seem to have these problems.
If a parent is paying $10,000 or more a year for private school tuition, which vouchers don’t come close to covering, by the way, said parent is likely to be very involved in their child’s academic progress, and “chronic absenteeism” will be a non-issue.
Wouldn’t it be neat if the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools recommended to the Legislature that parents be held accountable for their children’s behavior?
Two parents in Michigan are currently in prison, and hopefully one in Georgia soon will be for enabling their child to take a loaded gun to school and shoot and kill students and teachers.
Why not also hold parents accountable for ensuring their children attend school? If Junior missed a week, have the sheriff’s office give them a visit and a warning letter? If the kid continues to skip school, present the parent with a second and final warning. If none of the above works, then haul their fannies to court, fine them or let them cool their heels for a while in the county pokey.
I have a feeling that would go a long way toward solving the problem of chronic absenteeism. Then legislators could go back home and explain to voters why there seems to be no other place on God’s Green Earth to get toothpaste whitener but from our beloved Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
It seems I have to think of everything.
Of course, this won’t happen. It is too simple and too logical.
Should parents be held responsible for their child’s behavior?
You’ve got to be kidding.
After three thugs jumped a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in DeKalb County and were charged with battery, DeKalb school superintendent Dr. Devon Horton said he did not support them being “criminalized” and, “Those golden days of where you tell the student to sit down and they sit down, that’s not the case anymore.” Say what?
When did that happen?
It happened when parents quit being parents.
Write that down, study committee.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Ga. 31139.