Oregon Live – Betsy Hammond
“Oregon lawmaker Betty Komp, who witnessed the toll of chronic absenteeism during her 14 years as school administrator, wants to give schools a strong incentive to make sure students come to school. A bill she is pushing this session would switch Oregon’s school funding mechanism to one similar to what a half-dozen other states already do: Pay schools not based on how many students are enrolled on any given day but how many students show up. Making money contingent on attendance could have a big impact in Oregon, given that nearly one in five students missed 10 percent of the school year or more. States with some of the best student attendance rates, including Texas, Illinois and California, already fund their schools based on how many students attend each day. Unlike those states, however, Komp proposes that Oregon continue to pay schools for days when students are absent if the absence is excused.”(more)