Instead of addressing the underlying causes of kids missing school, Texas—almost alone among the states—is treating truancy as a criminal matter. But a growing body of research shows that using adult criminal courts to punish students and their parents is not just overly punitive and inequitable, but also ineffective.
Forrest Wilder, a native of Wimberley, Texas, is the editor of the Observer.
Get the latest Texas Observer news, analysis and investigations via Facebook, Twitter and our weekly newsletter.
Elizabeth McCracken’s ‘Bowlaway’ Spins a Dark, Magical Tale of Love, Loss and Bowling
The Austin author is mostly concerned with pain: how we inflict it on each other, and how we keep going, year after year, as our burdens pile up.
The Borderlands are a Sacrifice Zone for Our Terrible Politics
In the last year, Democrats agreed to border-wall funding that will fence off much of the Rio Grande Valley from Brownsville to Falcon Lake.
