I'm a high school teacher, married to a high school teacher, so my point of view is pretty predicatable: our kids will never miss school to go to WDW.
And I'm not trying to convince anyone of my point of view. I've realized over the years that it simply isn't going to happen.
But I do question the point of view that nothing much is going to happen in a week.
If I honestly thought that my kids could miss a week of school and not miss anything important, you can be your life I would be asking why. Loudly. And frequently. At PTA meetings and school board meetings and in the principal's office.
Missing a week of school, 1/36 of those precious 180 days, SHOULD make a difference. If I really thought it didn't, I would be way beyond concerned.
If everything that was important could be gotten from the notes, then there would be no point in sending kids to school. We could sit them down with their textbooks and workbooks in the living room and let them get up 12 years later, diploma in hand.
But that isn't how it works, at least not in my class. A kid who has missed more than 2 days of school sick inevitably needs to see me for some serious extra help after he or she has gotten the notes. And even then, he or she will miss the little things-- the references that pop up in days to come that simply weren't part of the notes. The reference to Liz's question or to Devon's joke, or the reference to the problem the kids had with the Do Now problem.
Can a kid still pass? Of course. Can he excel? Sure. But has he missed a piece of the puzzle, in fact a lot of little pieces of the puzzle? You bet your life. My class isn't a correspondance course, or spectator sport. It's a participation sport, one you need to be part of to benefit from.
And then, of course, there are all those little intangibles-- the teachable moments that pop up, unplanned, during each day.
Again, I'm really not trying to convince anyone. But I do think that anyone who thinks their kids won't miss much if they're out for 5 days should become a very vocal presence in the office of their schools. Missing 1/36 of a school year SHOULD make a difference. If not, then your tax dollars are being wasted.