"Nevermind" wrote in message
om...

The comparison of school to a job is flawed, I think. An employer pays
you to do work for them. Of course you owe it to them to show up, and
of course they can and should fire you if you don't do your job.
However, one does not send a child to school for the school's sake,
and one is not beholden to a school the way one is to a paying
employer.

I think the only comparison is that the state, and taxpayers
are paying for your child's public school education, so the
state gets a say in how that education is implemented. If
you are paying for your child's education (private school)
you have more say.

It could be argued that a child's "job" in school is to
learn, and if she is learning just as much or more out of school,
then. . . That said, I did already tell the OP that, basically, I
didn't think it was fair to the teacher to take her child out of
school at random. Though her child may well benefit from "voluntary
absences," if they are frequent and done without the teacher's prior
approval, they are probably a big PITA for the teacher, and she
doesn't need another one of those, I'm sure.

I believe the PITA theory is part of the reason the states have
been cracking down on absenses. The teachers unions and
the educational administration are trying to add new programs,
that take more teacher prep time outside of class without
adding dramatically to the time teachers spend outside the
classroom on school work. Correcting 20 tests, then 20
homework assignments is much more efficient than trying
to find all the answer sheets for one kid.

Another part of the equation is which kids are allowed to
miss school. How "bright" do they have to be? Getting
100%? Passing? One school I volunteered in had a very
bright 9 year old first grader. This was her 3rd year. She
made it to approximately half the days of school. When
she was in school she could do the work the first time,
but unfortunately, if it built on stuff she missed she
had a tough time. If her parents pulled together and
got her to school enough to pass the rest of her grades
in one year she would be 20 when she graduated from
high school. What are the chances that child will ever
graduate? This is the main reason for truency laws.

The OP should investigate
official part-time homeschooling.