More than 20% of parents say they have been fined for unauthorised holidays is the headline of an article in the British newspaper The Guardian.

Here’s how it starts:

More than 20% of parents say they have been fined for taking their children on unauthorised holidays during the school term, while a majority of parents have lied to avoid getting into trouble, a national survey has found.

Wow. I’m not sure what world the British schools live in, but that system sure wouldn’t work in California and, I assume, in many other states with large Latino populations. We always have a sizable number of families (though the numbers seem to be getter smaller) who visit Mexico for extended periods of time.

I’d rather the kids didn’t stay out of school, but I live in the world as it is, not as I’d like it to be. I’d rather students tell me what’s going on so we can arrange for work they can do while they’re gone so that, when they return, they are not as behind as they could be. And I sure don’t think fining parents is going to promote positive school/family partnerships…..