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I’m very against financial incentives for perfect attendance. American schools by and large still do not have adequate ventilation and space to prevent the spre

I’m very against financial incentives for perfect attendance. American schools by and large still do not have adequate ventilation and space to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Combine that with a state like Alabama with low childhood vaccine rates and it’s a recipe for epidemics like measles.

wildzzz 8mo ago
Birmingham had a chronic absentee rate of 29% prior to this program which is defined as missing at least 10% of school days. They brought it down to 14%. Missing class is a major detriment to learning and causes kids to fall behind faster than they can keep up. Doing nothing to combat chronic absenteeism is not really the solution to preventing the spread of childhood diseases.
- TimorousBestie 8mo ago
  > Doing nothing to combat chronic absenteeism Not something I was advocating, thanks.
  - j_w 8mo ago
    "I'm against the solution which has been shown to work for [unsubstantiated reason]." Without providing any other proven-to-work solutions is basically advocating for the problem.
    - TimorousBestie 8mo ago
      It’s not the solution, it’s one intervention among others in a focus program. They had at least one other intervention going on at the same time (essentially, decriminalizing truancy—a “proven-to-work” solution by your standards, and one I do support), and probably more.
ch4s3 8mo ago
This might be the dumbest take I've read online in months. Alabama has had 1 case of measles in 24 years. Alabama requires MMR for entry to public k-12 schools and has a 95.3% vaccination rate which meets the accepted threshold of 95% for heard immunity. One minute of searching could have turned this up for you. But you're making up some stupid bullshit about "ow childhood vaccine rates". Seriously, I can't fathom why you'd think the poorest students in Alabama shouldn't be receiving high quality in person education even in the face of imperfect ventilation. Talk about the perfect being the enemy of the good.
- TimorousBestie 8mo ago
  > Alabama requires MMR for entry to public k-12 schools For now. Your state legislature has multiple bills in progress to increase vaccine exemptions and reduce requirements, following the national trend. > and has a 95.3% vaccination rate 93.8% the year prior, see below. We’ll see if it’s an upward trend or an outlier soon enough. > But you're making up some stupid bullshit about "ow [sic] childhood vaccine rates". Here’s a weighting of various vaccination metrics by state: https://www.newsweek.com/states-that-vaccinate-most-map-2127408 https://www.newsweek.com/states-that-vaccinate-most-map-2127... (2025) And a local report from a couple months ago: https://alabamareflector.com/2025/12/08/alabama-sees-lower-vaccination-rates-amid-policy-debates-and-rising-hesitancy/ https://alabamareflector.com/2025/12/08/alabama-sees-lower-v... > The vaccination rate for children aged 13-17 nationwide remained high in 2024, but it drops significantly in Alabama as children age. Where about 70% of 4-10-year-olds are up to date on vaccines statewide, only 25% of children 11-18 years old are up to date. And as I said to the sibling commenter, I’m not advocating doing nothing about absenteeism. It’s perfectly reasonable to criticize a specific method while endorsing its intended effect.
  - ch4s3 8mo ago
    You are advocating precisely nothing. You're criticizing a policy that is helping the poorest children learn to read which unlocks ever subsequent learning opportunity. There is no substitute for in person reading instruction. Your criticism is useless and misplaced. Again, Alabama has had 1 measles case in nearly a quarter century, while they have had a real problem teaching poor kids to read due to absenteeism. Honestly you take is disastrously stupid. It's this sort of illness safety maximalism that lead to COVID learning loss to begin with.

wildzzz 8mo ago

Birmingham had a chronic absentee rate of 29% prior to this program which is defined as missing at least 10% of school days. They brought it down to 14%. Missing class is a major detriment to learning and causes kids to fall behind faster than they can keep up. Doing nothing to combat chronic absenteeism is not really the solution to preventing the spread of childhood diseases.

TimorousBestie 8mo ago
> Doing nothing to combat chronic absenteeism Not something I was advocating, thanks.
- j_w 8mo ago
  "I'm against the solution which has been shown to work for [unsubstantiated reason]." Without providing any other proven-to-work solutions is basically advocating for the problem.
  - TimorousBestie 8mo ago
    It’s not the solution, it’s one intervention among others in a focus program. They had at least one other intervention going on at the same time (essentially, decriminalizing truancy—a “proven-to-work” solution by your standards, and one I do support), and probably more.

ch4s3 8mo ago

This might be the dumbest take I've read online in months. Alabama has had 1 case of measles in 24 years. Alabama requires MMR for entry to public k-12 schools and has a 95.3% vaccination rate which meets the accepted threshold of 95% for heard immunity. One minute of searching could have turned this up for you. But you're making up some stupid bullshit about "ow childhood vaccine rates". Seriously, I can't fathom why you'd think the poorest students in Alabama shouldn't be receiving high quality in person education even in the face of imperfect ventilation. Talk about the perfect being the enemy of the good.

TimorousBestie 8mo ago
> Alabama requires MMR for entry to public k-12 schools For now. Your state legislature has multiple bills in progress to increase vaccine exemptions and reduce requirements, following the national trend. > and has a 95.3% vaccination rate 93.8% the year prior, see below. We’ll see if it’s an upward trend or an outlier soon enough. > But you're making up some stupid bullshit about "ow [sic] childhood vaccine rates". Here’s a weighting of various vaccination metrics by state: https://www.newsweek.com/states-that-vaccinate-most-map-2127408 https://www.newsweek.com/states-that-vaccinate-most-map-2127... (2025) And a local report from a couple months ago: https://alabamareflector.com/2025/12/08/alabama-sees-lower-vaccination-rates-amid-policy-debates-and-rising-hesitancy/ https://alabamareflector.com/2025/12/08/alabama-sees-lower-v... > The vaccination rate for children aged 13-17 nationwide remained high in 2024, but it drops significantly in Alabama as children age. Where about 70% of 4-10-year-olds are up to date on vaccines statewide, only 25% of children 11-18 years old are up to date. And as I said to the sibling commenter, I’m not advocating doing nothing about absenteeism. It’s perfectly reasonable to criticize a specific method while endorsing its intended effect.
- ch4s3 8mo ago
  You are advocating precisely nothing. You're criticizing a policy that is helping the poorest children learn to read which unlocks ever subsequent learning opportunity. There is no substitute for in person reading instruction. Your criticism is useless and misplaced. Again, Alabama has had 1 measles case in nearly a quarter century, while they have had a real problem teaching poor kids to read due to absenteeism. Honestly you take is disastrously stupid. It's this sort of illness safety maximalism that lead to COVID learning loss to begin with.