The kids, of course. The parents are adults and won't budge! JMO

Remove the parents or the kids, justme46?

Yes, but why should everything be based on money? It should just be a parents responsibility to educate their children and if they don't then remove them from the home. JMO

I would say a majority of households in America with children in the various school systems would take more interest in their kids performance if there was a monetary penalty for poor performance. Meaning public school is funded by tax dollars and if any given student chooses a path that leads to poor grades, poor attendance or even dropping out all together then in my opinion these same children and their parents should be obligated to pay the money back wasted on them. On the other side if you have children that work hard and make the best of their education then I would support grant/scholarship program to help them move onto college. A system of accountability is the only way to force lazy parents into making their children's education a priority.

I am sure petofthegods understands the medical aspect of absences, that is just their opinion of other absences. Madison Elementary is a wonderful school and so is Washington. My kids attended both and now my grandkids go to Madison. My granddaughter is in 2nd grade and is reading at a 4th grade level. She had multiple problems in kindegarten and 1st grade, but the school and her teachers worked magic with her and she is so different now. JMO

This article and now the comments underneath it are so refreshing to see. Especially after all of the education and teacher bashing I have read about in previous posts. It is nice to focus on the positives once in a while, thank you Gazette.

I cant speak for all the schools but Madison Elementary is great! I havent had any problems! As far as the parents that do it seems to be the parent that is the problem not the school. Some people are never happy!

I have a son with Asperger syndrome (high functioning autism). We had him in a local catholic school for his first couple of years and he got way behind. We moved him to Madison Elementary and in 2 yrs has caught up to his other 4th grade classmates. The help he is getting from the school system and the staff at Madison is outstanding.

Interesting. I'm not happy with the Janesville schools at all. My daughter has had nothing but problems since returning to Janesville from a smaller school. The bullying is out of control. Suspensions are handed out like candy. At my daughters school one girl was given 2 days of in school suspension for in a note with another girl saying if a third girl laid a hand on her she would defend herself. GIVE ME A BREAK, that is not a threat to anyone. It's a statement saying I'll protect myself. Because the issues start at home, aren't dealt with in proper context in elementary school, by the time the kids are in middle school many are on their way to or have already been arrested, put on probabtion,and/or in juvenile detention. By the time they get to high school it only gets worse.

petofthegods- altough some of this may be true ...I have a child the goes to madison 3 times every month for a major heart condition, and misses often due to doctor appointments...but if you seen him you would never know he was ill..I give doctor notes every time ...but again that is not any of your concern ...but I guess Im just a bad parent...because I care about the health of my child over how many days of school he attends...

Shhhhhhh - don't tell anyone, but the Edison Middle school is a great place for kids. The gentleman that is the principal this year is outstanding. May I recommend if our supt. reads this that the word "interim" be removed from a title. The school district of Janesville is lucky to have someone like him that exhibits positive leadership qualities.

petofthegods- Don't assume that children missing school are necessarily skipping. I realize that that may be the case and probably is with some kids, but, I have 4 young kids. My 2nd daughter has missed nearly 3 weeks this year. I am sure that you would assume she is skipping, also. However, my daughter suffers from a massive malformation of the frontal lobe that causes her to have very severe seizures when she falls asleep. When this occurs, she has to be under neurological surveillance. My daughter looks and acts COMPLETELY normally,so, no one would suspect there is an issue, and, we aren't terribly forthcoming about it, as, we don't want her to be treated differently. The school is aware as is the principal, nurse, social worker and her current teacher. I assume that everyone else would think she is "skipping" as well. Anyway, Janesville schools have done an incredible job in respecting my wishes for my little girl and in maintaining confidentiallity. There is huge variance from school to school. I have worked at 5 different elementary schools, and, they are each very different. Of course, I think our school is best. that is why we bought the house in this district. Good job, Janesville!

OK, but bad parents are everywhere. What does this have to do with the quality of the education? Certainly in the Janesville schools someone skipping as much school as you allege would eventually be transferred to an alternative education environment in the charter schools.

I'm sorry but I come from a small town, and when I see how Janesville schools are ran well I'm not happy about it. In my personal experience I am speaking not in general. My personal experience is that with bad parents who allow their children to skip school and the schools don't catch on. How do they not catch on? In this case in the last 3 months two children have missed around a month and half of school between a week here or two consecutive days there. If that happened in my home town even with a doctors note the school would be involved and questioning it. Which would at least make the bad parents re-think allowing their children to stay home all the time. The real reason for the misses being they don't want to fight with their children to get them up in the morning. Sorry it's part of being a responsible parent. Sorry. Just had to ask.

Nice job Janesville Schools.