Attendance Effort May Use Parents

Georgia governor wants to add parental aides in anti-dropout initiative.

First he called on educators. Then he enlisted community members. Now Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is looking to parents as the next key to keep struggling students plugged into school and on track for graduation.

VIP—short for Very Important Parent—recruiters would be hired to serve as a resource for other parents in the 551 elementary, middle, and high schools across the state with the worst attendance rates, under a proposal the governor has made to the legislature.

The program “will help parents take a vested interest in their child’s education and remain involved throughout their child’s academic career,” Gov. Perdue, a second-term Republican, said earlier this month when...