SCHOOL TRUANCY'S ROOTS ARE IN THE HOME: GO AFTER PARENTS

Faced with a growing truancy problem, school administrators and prosecutors in Springfield, Mo., decided that this was the year to do something about it.

Their solution might be considered harsh by some, but it could prove the best remedy to children skipping school when all other efforts fail.

Springfield's solution is simple: Hold parents and guardians of children between the ages of 7 and 16 who fail to meet school attendance requirements liable for their hooky-playing children. It is being accomplished by bringing charges against the parents under Missouri's rarely used compulsory attendance law. The parents could be sent to jail for 15 days or fined $300 for not making their children go to school.

No doubt other Missouri school districts with truancy problems will watch with interest as the Springfield School District tries to get a handle on truancy. A similar program of prosecuting parents has been in effect in the St. Joseph School District for three years. It is credited in part for reducing the dropout rate to 16 percent from 27 percent.

So far 11 parents or guardians of 12 children are charged by the Greene County prosecuting attorney's office. The names of more than 65 Springfield students have been sent to the prosecutor's office for truancy this year. The prosecutor wrote letters to the parents or guardians of those children telling them to correct the absenteeism or criminal charges would be filed. The parents whose children skipped school four more times after getting the letter were charged by the prosecutor.

The principal of the Springfield Middle School called the action drastic. But the school ranks toward the bottom of middle-school attendance, and drastic action is warranted.

On Thursday eight of the 11 parents were in court. Three didn't show up. The eight who did reached deferred prosecution agreements. If they attend counseling and get the children to school for 60 days, the state will dismiss the charges. If not, they face jail time and fines.

That is as it should be. Regardless of a youngster's resistance to being in school, the fact remains that parents are responsible for their children's actions. And some parents must be treated harshly at times to remind them of that.