Yes, that is what a bill currently under discussion in the Texas legislature would aim to do.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Parents beware: Miss a meeting with your child’s teacher and it could cost you a $500 fine and a criminal record.

A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference.

Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child’s education.

Parents Fined·PDF

In what I feel is a misguided attempt to increase communitions between teachers and parents, parents that miss meetings would also face a misdemeanor charge in court. The author of the bill said that its purpose is to get the parent’s more involved in their child’s education, but is the way to due it with the threat of a criminal record and a monetary fine?

Yes, I do feel that if a parent is involved in their kid’s education, that the kid will benefit. But a $500 fine could hurt the kid’s education, especially in the poorer parts of Texas. For a parent working at $7, a $500 fine is more than two weeks pay. Imagine how hard that would be for the parent to miss work in order to go to a meeting. But at the same time, the parent is facing a huge fine, so she goes to the meeting, and has less money to use to provide for her family.

Also, has the sponsor thought about the court system? The American courts are already overtaxed and over burdened. They don’t have the time to deal with minor problems such as this. For the truley uninterested parent, this law will not do anything to help them or the student, the only thing that will happen is that both will be hurt from the fine and prosecution.