After finding herself on a list of the most unexcused absences in the GA legislature last month, local resident Rep. Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield showed the most improvement among her colleagues, according to the AJC, falling from 6th most unexcused absences to 63rd.

And while I’m glad to see she’s got things straightened out, the dramatic fall really calls into question of the validity of a list that counts unexcused absences. In Benfield’s retort to the AJC ranking she claimed that the only difference between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence was that you had called in saying you couldn’t make it, as opposed to just not showing up. Is that really the case?? Is it really easier than concocting a two-bit story about some bad sushi you had last night, so you can take the day off to ride with your buddies in the North GA mountains? If so, it really makes no sense to use only those with “unexcused” absences.

I wish that in this follow up, the AJC had justified and defended its use of “unexcused absences” and elaborated on the difference between “excused” and “unexcused”. Because right now, I don’t know if this list has any value whatsoever.