A sus 11 años, Lamont Harrell mantiene intacto el deseo de completar su educación para algún día poder trabajar "en algo mejor que un McDonald's". Sin embargo, al pequeño le preocupan las medidas que penalizan el absentismo escolar.

"Mi mamá no debe ir a la cárcel si a veces yo tengo que cuidar a mi hermano porque ella está enferma", decía ayer el estudiante, en un acto de protesta contra la SB 1317, presentada por el Senador estatal Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

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English Translation:

Young 11 year old Lamont Harrell is conscious of one day finishing his education so he may one day work in "something better than McDonalds". Although, the young man is worried about the new bill that will penalize being absent to school.

"My mom should not be sent to jail when I have to take care of my brother when she is sick", the student said, on an act of protesting against SB 1317, which was presented by State Senator Mark Leno (from San Francisco).

The new bill establishes a penal responsibility on parents who have young children to assist school from kindergarten through 8th grade, where the misdemeanor will be missing 10 percent of the obligatory instruction time. The charges for missing this time will result in a fine of up to $2,000 and or up to one year in jail.

Zoe Rawson, a lawyer from the Labor Community Strategy Center, explains that although the sanctions already exist on the state Penal Code, SB1317 would ease the process. "The Penal Code states that being absent from school may be a form of child mistreatment, but it is an unusual way to punish being absent from class", says the lawyer.

What is common, explains Rawson, are the fines based on municipal orders, -like the existent in Los Angeles and many other cities in southern California- which generally fine with a ticket of $250 to the parents of students who are absent or are late to school.

Between the years of 2004 and 2009, the L.A.P.D distributed 33,999 of the tickets. To those are added the 13,118 tickets the school police of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) distributed.

The most aggravating part for those who oppose this punishment is that these rules concentrate disproportionately on minorities. For example, Hispanics, to which the population of youth from ages 5-17 in Los Angeles is approximately 64 percent, received 85 percent of the fines from 2008-2009.

"This is a form of pushing our communities into prison", says Loretta Andrews, whose son was given a fine for attending school a few minutes late, and was able -with the help of a lawyer- to waive the fine. Andrews believes on the emphasis of having a better public transportation system, to the supporting of education of our communities to get their children to school.

For those who defend SB 1317 consider this a measure to avoid many serious problems with the justice system, and point out three fourths of people in jail dropped out by middle school.

Kamala Harris, City Attorney of San Francisco, who supports this proposal believes that based on the comparison between dropping out of school at an early age and crime, makes it easier to focus on elementary and middle school kids to go to school rather than letting them engage in criminal behavior.

The measures approved by the Senate in May, will be considered today by appropriations committee of the assembly, to assess the potential costs resulting from the action. However, just like this profiling does not imply immediate costs, which could open then a path towards the vote in the House.