California report says truancy among elementary students is rampant

One out of every four California elementary school students — nearly 1 million total — are truant each year, according to a report from the state attorney general. The Los Angeles Times reports that Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, in her first annual study of elementary student truancy, says districts lost $1.4 billion in 2010-11 in state education funding, which are distributed based on student attendance. State law, which requires children ages 6 to 18 to attend school, defines truants as those who are absent or tardy more than 30 minutes without a valid excuse three times in a school year.