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A law that sent approximately 100,000 students each year to criminal court and sometimes to jail for missing school has been taken off the books. Fines of up to $500 plus court costs and a criminal record wasn’t curbing truancy and students whose families couldn’t pay the fines were usually considered financial hardship cases. Texas senator John Whitmire said “It doesn’t solve anything to criminalize hardship cases; this hurts low income families and doesn’t address the root casuses”. Under the old law students as young as 12 could be sent to criminal court because of 3 unexcused absences in 4 weeks; unpaid fines were landing some students in jail when they turned 17.
