In Missouri :

Auditors also found that districts have different standards, with one presuming any student absent 10 or more days is home-schooled …..

I suppose that notion goes in the paperwork and such. How convenient, methodical (not) and strange?!

I remember 2 men (public school staff; not a truancy officer) here in central Illinois made a surprise visit  at a single mom’s door with a piece of paper to sign.   The paper said that she was going to homeschool that year. They had to provide the paper and pen, I would imagine, because she couldn’t find one when I visited her.  No transportation, no computer, no library card, a whole lot of nothing.  I didn’t think the school district was looking out for their best interests (understatement), but it probably helped out their test scores and truancy rates. 

And the public school says: 

"We truly do try to prevent game playing here, which sometimes hurts us, but we have an ethical obligation to make sure students are receiving an education," said Scott.

Hope that’s the case there.  But I thought it was an interesting statement about that school preventing "game playing" as opposed to who else?  Steve Orel could attest to the game playing .  Continuing with the article:

Springfield [Mo] does seek a letter from parents verifying home schooling before coding a student as a transfer from public school into home school, she said.

I would imagine that is The Law?  No pat on the back there.   Here’s what is causing all the angst and manipulation in public schools:

Auditor Claire McCaskill said graduation rates have taken on even more importance with the federal No Child Left Behind law, which aims to have all children proficient in reading and math by 2014.

Chicago Sun Times had a 2004 article about the Chicago pushout problem. As noted above, it’s an Illinois problem.  I find this quote typical:

The numbers are too high and the pressure on schools to push out truant, low-performing students is only growing, several experts, including Illinois Education Supt. Robert Schiller, testified at a state Senate Education Committee meeting in Chicago. The main culprit is the federal No Child Left Behind law, Schiller and others said. That law requires schools to meet testing, graduation and attendance benchmarks each year. "There is tremendous pressure on districts," said Sen. Miguel del Valle (D-Chicago), the committee chairman. "All of this is creating a climate that, as the superintendent says, creates a disincentive to hang on to students and help them go the extra mile to stay in school."

Senator del Valle, asst. majority leader and  Education Committee vice chair, has been busy, busy ‘addressing’ the pushout problem with legislation.  Same sort of unnecessary legislation as the Driver’s Education Bill .  More importantly, he, along with the other Illinois education leaders, neglected to note that the main culprit was the Chicago Schools and their illegal deeds .

The Buck Did NOT Stop There. 

Interesting that the public schools want homeschoolers to  meet testing, graduation and attendance benchmarks each year. Must be about the money.

The Military Homeschooler  addresses the issue from a homeschooling perspective with several links.