Tattletale

Dialing machines cut truancy

When schoolchildren at Southern California's Antelope Valley High play hooky, they often are in hot water by bedtime. Every afternoon at 5:15 the school's computer begins phoning 30-second reports to the parents of youngsters who have skipped class that day. After a year of operation, the machine has helped bring down the truancy rate by 64%.

Principal Dale Johnson adapted the computerized tattletale from a similar device used by Sears, Roebuck to call customers. Some 50 school districts across the country have expressed interest in the gadget; the New York City and Chicago school systems recently purchased at least eight machines each. The $8,600 Telsols quickly earn their keep in schools that receive state funds on the basis of pupil attendance. Says Chicago Truant Officer Walter Bryant: "If we raise a district's attendance by nine students a day, we can pay for the machine in less than a year." Bryant believes that the computers can only supplement, not replace, regular truant officers. Officials still must track down children who outsmart the machines by giving out phony home phone numbers or answering the phone themselves. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.