education

On a visit to China last year in preparation for the 2008 Summer Games, U.S. Olympic swimmer Katie Hoff had an epiphany: she couldn't speak to the locals.

In between practicing for the trials, and keeping up with her busy schedule, Hoff decided then and there that she would add the Mandarin language to her agenda.

"I really wanted to feel more prepared," Hoff said

Florida taxpayers are spending millions of dollars to educate thousands of high-school students who rarely or never show up for class, part of a growing trend of high absenteeism at schools operated by for-profit corporations.

Texas officials want a refund for millions of tax dollars from schools that allegedly inflated attendance records, part of a national problem of absenteeism at schools operated by for-profit corporations.

Ohio taxpayers have spent more than $100 million to educate thousands of high-school students who rarely or never show up for class, part of a growing trend of absenteeism at privately operated schools.

This is a statement issued Sept. 22 by the White Hat Management company of Akron, Ohio, after questions by Scripps Howard News Service about absenteeism at the company's Life Skills Centers.

Americans tend to support charter schools but are divided about whether they should be run by for-profit companies.

The following are selected findings from a survey of 1,003 adults conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University from May 11-28.

State policies for compulsory education vary considerably by student age in the United States, with most states not requiring enough time to ensure high-school graduation. The following are the current ages by which students are required to enroll and the earliest age at which they are allowed to drop out.

Alabama .................. 7-16

Alaska ................... 7-16

States have struggled with the issues of truancy and high-school dropouts for many years, trying to weave regulations and compulsory education laws that will increase the number of youths who graduate from high school.

But the result of their attempts is a wide array of different policies.

The following are estimated public school attendance rates, based upon a survey of more than 88,000 schools conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The rates are for the 2003-04 school year.

STATE NAME ...... ATTENDANCE RATE

Alabama ................. 91.0

Alaska .................. 89.4