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House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	September 12, 2013 11:43 AM
From:	Representative Thomas R. Caltagirone
To:	All House members
Subject:	Decriminalization and Incentives to Eliminate Truancy - 5 bill package - reformatted memo

The need for a high school diploma has never been greater, and an impediment to that achievement is truancy. Truancy is a significant problem throughout the Commonwealth. Truancy can lead to low academic achievement, delinquency, gang involvement and increase in the rate of drop-out. It can have lasting effects on a student’s future ability to earn a living and provide for his or her family. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau found that high school dropouts will have an annual average salary of approximately $18,734 as opposed to a high school graduate with an average annual salary of $27,915, a difference of $9,181. Truancy is most likely to affect older students; the average age of truant students is 15. At that age, some students’ and families’ life circumstances are such that the student may need to skip school to help provide for his or her family. In other cases, the student is of the age where he or she is responsible to see themselves off to school in the morning, and decides that he or she has better things to do. And all too often the brunt of the punishment falls on a parent or grandparent and does not serve to incentivize the student to attend school. I want to incentivize these students to finish high school, earn a GED, or join the military. And, when appropriate, I want the student to be punished for his or her truancy, instead of a well-meaning parent or grandparent who cannot control a rebellious teenager who simply refuses to attend school. My package of bills will decriminalize truancy so that mothers and grandmothers are not sent to jail but still receive education in how to prevent truancy. The bills will engage the schools, courts, and the Commonwealth in the process of preventing truancy. The bills provide incentives and alternatives to help these at-risk students. I have worked closely with members of the minor judiciary to craft what I think are workable and much needed truancy reforms. I hope you will join me as a sponsor of this much-needed legislation.

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Document #1

Description:	Bill #1. This bill amends the Public School Code such that parents and guardians will no longer bear the brunt of the punishment for a student’s truancy.  The parent or guardian can still be required to attend a parenting education program, but will no longer be on the hook for harsher fines and penalties, provided they have taken every reasonable step to insure the child’s attendance at school.  Instead, the student will become ineligible for a driver’s license until he or she can present the Department of Transportation with proof that he or she is no longer habitually truant, has completed high school, has obtained a GED, has joined the military, has legally withdrawn from school or attains the age of 21.
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Document #2

Description:	Bill #2: This bill amends Title 75 to require a minor applying for a driver’s license or learners permit to present to the Department of Transportation a certificate signed by the school attendance officer stating that he or she is not habitually truant.  After the issuance of a driver’s license or learners permit, if the Department receives notice that a student has become habitually truant, the license or permit is to be suspended or revoked. The license can be reinstated when the student can present the Department with proof that he or she is no longer habitually truant, has completed high school, has obtained a GED, has joined the military, has legally withdrawn from school or attains the age of 21, and pays a $100 administrative fee.
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Document #3

Description:	Bill #3:  This bill would amend the Public School Code by moving original jurisdiction for truancy matters from the magisterial district court to the juvenile division of the court of common pleas.
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Document #4

Description:	Bill #4: This bill would amend the Title 42 by moving original jurisdiction for truancy matters from the magisterial district court to the juvenile division of the court of common pleas.
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Document #5

Description:	Bill #5: This bill would amend Title 18 so that truancy is no longer an offense under the corruption of minor’s statute.
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