What I think:
It's not about the money. It's about the time. Money is just one of those things parents might take notice of, unfortunately.
If a parent in came to me and said "I want to take Lucy to Europe because I've got a business trip/family event and it would be an educational experience" I would personally be fine with saying "cool, we will figure out an alternative assignment that applies to both what she's studying and what she'll experience over there." Partly because that will be an educational experience- Lucy will be around a different culture. Partly because let's be honest, they're probably taking Lucy because there isn't a practical solution that involves leaving her behind.
If another parent says "I'm taking tommy out of school for week because our trip to WDW will be much cheaper"...my answer will not be the same.
The problem is as a teacher I've got to treat both parents equally. So as a consequence, both of those parents are going to be fined. The absence will affect both kids' grades. No make up work, because my policy is you can make up stuff if you can give me a note from your doctor or a death certificate for that funeral.
I don't consider that fair to Lucy. But neither do I think that it's fair that Tommy's parents deliberately planned their WDW trip around during class time, and then expect that to have no difference in his grade. In theory, you shouldn't be doing much redundancy in lessons and everything you teach becomes the basis for later material.
It's true that many kids won't be set back by missing that material. But missing participation time or classroom activities means you'll be rejoining the classroom out of step and confused. That's on you if you do it in college. That's on parents if it happens before that.
Now, both parents can still take the kids out. I can't stop them. They can accept my rules and pay whatever penalty there is. I'm not going to hold it against them or keep hammering on about it.
But you know what? The worst part of the job is when you give a kid like Tommy a report card and he looks disappointed. Then his parents come in and complain. But they took him out for a week during fall for WDW, a week in December for skiing, and then he was sick for a week in spring. At that point, I am not at all surprised he failed his final. I am always surprised that he and his parents can't grasp that his absences probably contributed to it.
Anyway: the fines sound like an overreach of the state. But given the crap I've heard from parents, the only solution I've come up with is that everyone has to be treated equally.
As a kid, I was one of those high performing kids that could miss a month and still ace every test. My parents never ever took us out of school for vacation. As an adult, I finally understand and respect that. No job lets you accrue excessive absences and often if you even have the vacation time, you should not take it. You can't participate if you're not there. In college, if you don't attend one class, you may have missed a crucial discussion. You'll pay for that later. Allowances can be made for valid reasons. But vacation is never a valid reason. I don't really think it gives the kids any advantage to think partipation and attendance does not matter. Would you be okay with your kid's teacher for taking off two weeks to go to Europe off season? (If so, please start a petition to give the school district. My fellow staff members and I are thinking Oktoberfest in Munich would be a good "staff retreat".)