Disturbing trend that has been growing among children since the pandemic
The Department of Education (DoE) defines chronic absenteeism as students missing 10 percent or more of school per year.
Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed to 31 percent in the 2021-2022 academic year but even four years later, students are still missing class at unprecedented rates.
Absenteeism has dropped to 19.3 percent but student absences are 'more common' and 'more extreme' following the pandemic, a study by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has found.
The latest data, which includes figures through March of 2025, shows absenteeism rates still remain 50 percent higher than before covid.
Absenteeism declined 0.3 points since last year, but experts warn that at the current rate it will take at least two decades for student absence rates to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Educators are trying to incentivize students to come to school, with some districts even paying students for their attendance.
Others have encouraged teachers to have attendance count towards grades or limit the number of assignments that can be completed online, The Boston Globe reports.
Twenty states reported that more than 30 percent of their students missed at least three weeks of school in 2022-23, according to latest figures from the DoE.
Absenteeism remains highest in Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and the District of Columbia, the report - published earlier this year - revealed.
Oregon recorded absenteeism levels of 44 percent during the 22-23 academic year, followed by Hawaii and New Mexico at 43 percent.
Washington DC, however, recorded an absenteeism rate of 47 percent - the highest in the country, according to the data.
The AEI report, which includes data from last year, found the highest rates of absenteeism are in Hawaii which recorded a level of 34 per cent in 2024.
Connecticut followed at 30 percent and DC came ranked third worst at 29 percent, according to the AEI data.
Researchers say that absences derive from multiple - but often interconnected - factors including student disengagement, lack of access to student and family supports, and student and family health challenges.
They allege absenteeism is highest among 'high-needs populations', including students who come from low-income households.
Students with disabilities are 36 percent more likely to experience chronic absenteeism than students without disabilities, the DoE has found.
Absenteeism is also 20 percent higher among students who are English language learners than those who are fluent or native speakers.
The DoE has called on states and school districts nationwide to address the factors driving absences and 'send a clear message' to students and families that children 'need to be in school'.
District officials in Detroit, Michigan and Oakland, California have used money to motivate students to come to school.
Detroit spends up to $1,000 per student per year to encourage attendance, which experts allege increases attendance by as much as several days annually.
A Boston School Committee member has called on officials to launch a similar program in the Massachusetts city, the Globe reports.
Massachusetts recorded a statewide absenteeism level of 15 percent last year, latest figures reveal.
Other experts have encouraged schools to create 'negative nudges' or punishments for students who fail to meet attendance requirements.
Robert Balfanz, of Johns Hopkins University School of Education, suggests that having attendance affect academic grades could get students who are on the verge of skipping to turn up to class.
Tim Daly, CEO of education nonprofit EdNavigator, has suggested that schools increase attendance rates by helping tackle students lacking sleep.
A survey conducted by the organization found that after sickness, 'not enough sleep' was the most common reason for student absences.
Daly suggested schools could 'help kids with their nighttime routines' by disabling capabilities on district-issued technology at certain times.
'Sometimes when kids stay up too late, they're using the devices to 'do homework' but really they're using them to stream,' he said during AEI's chronic absenteeism symposium in May.
'Not only would [disabling them] prevent them that, [schools] can message to parents, when that goes off, it's time to go to sleep.'
Some school districts have even adjusted high school start times to better align with adolescent sleep cycles.
Mary Beth Miotto, a pediatrician and former president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has also urged medical professionals to treat school attendance like a 'vital sign'.
Miotto argued that high absenteeism negatively impacts physical and mental health, such as increasing high school dropout rates and lowering life expectancy.
She said it is critical for doctors to encourage parents to get their children to school and have positive conversations about attendance without sparking fears about truancy.
The pediatrician believes that all primary care physicians, ER staff and urgent care doctors should be asking families about school attendance.
'We can pour all the money into schools and teachers, but if kids aren't showing up, it's not helping,' Miotto told the Globe.
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
$1,000 bonus among efforts by schools to counter chronic absenteeism
Schools are paying students $1,000 bonuses to attend class as absenteeism continues to stalk American campuses five years after the pandemic. The rates of 'chronic' non-attendance - defined as students absent for 10 per cent or more of teaching per year - jumped 31 per cent year in the 2021-2022 academic year. But rates remain stubbornly high even four years after the coronavirus crisis, the Department of Education (DoE) figures show. Absenteeism has dropped to 19.3 per cent but student absences are 'more common' and 'more extreme' following the pandemic, a study by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has found. The latest data, which includes figures through March 2025, shows absenteeism rates still remain 50 per cent higher than before Covid. Absenteeism declined 0.3 points since last year, but experts warn that at the current rate it will take at least two decades for student absence rates to return to pre-pandemic levels. Educators are trying to incentivize students to come to school, with some districts even paying students for their attendance. Others have encouraged teachers to have attendance count towards grades or limit the number of assignments that can be completed online, The Boston Globe reports. Twenty states reported that more than 30 per cent of their students missed at least three weeks of school in 2022-23, according to latest figures from the DoE. Absenteeism remains highest in Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and the District of Columbia, the report - published earlier this year - revealed. Oregon recorded absenteeism levels of 44 per cent during the 2022-23 academic year, followed by Hawaii and New Mexico at 43 per cent. Washington DC, however, recorded an absenteeism rate of 47 per cent - the highest in the country, according to the data. The AEI report, which includes data from last year, found the highest rates of absenteeism are in Hawaii, which recorded a level of 34 per cent in 2024. Connecticut followed at 30 per cent and DC came ranked third worst at 29 per cent, according to the AEI data. Researchers say that absences derive from multiple - but often interconnected - factors including student disengagement, lack of access to student and family supports, and student and family health challenges. They allege absenteeism is highest among 'high-needs populations,' including students who come from low-income households. Students with disabilities are 36 per cent more likely to experience chronic absenteeism than students without disabilities, the DoE has found. Absenteeism is also 20 per cent higher among students who are English language learners than those who are fluent or native speakers. The DoE has called on states and school districts nationwide to address the factors driving absences and 'send a clear message' to students and families that children 'need to be in school.' District officials in Detroit, Michigan and Oakland, California, have used money to motivate students to come to school. Detroit spends up to $1,000 per student per year to encourage attendance, which experts allege increases attendance by as much as several days annually. A Boston School Committee member has called on officials to launch a similar program in the Massachusetts city, the Globe reports. Massachusetts recorded a statewide absenteeism level of 15 per cent last year, latest figures reveal. Other experts have encouraged schools to create 'negative nudges' or punishments for students who fail to meet attendance requirements. Robert Balfanz, of Johns Hopkins University School of Education, suggests that having attendance affect academic grades could get students who are on the verge of skipping to turn up to class. Tim Daly, CEO of education nonprofit EdNavigator, has suggested that schools increase attendance rates by helping tackle students lacking sleep. A survey conducted by the organization found that after sickness, 'not enough sleep' was the most common reason for student absences. Daly suggested schools could 'help kids with their nighttime routines' by disabling capabilities on district-issued technology at certain times. 'Sometimes when kids stay up too late, they're using the devices to "do homework" but really they're using them to stream,' he said during AEI's chronic absenteeism symposium in May. 'Not only would [disabling them] prevent them that, [schools] can message to parents, when that goes off, it's time to go to sleep.' Some school districts have even adjusted high school start times to better align with adolescent sleep cycles. Mary Beth Miotto, a pediatrician and former president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has also urged medical professionals to treat school attendance like a 'vital sign.' Miotto argued that high absenteeism negatively affects physical and mental health, such as increasing high school dropout rates and lowering life expectancy. She said it is critical for doctors to encourage parents to get their children to school and have positive conversations about attendance without sparking fears about truancy. The pediatrician believes that all primary care physicians, ER staff and urgent care doctors should be asking families about school attendance. 'We can pour all the money into schools and teachers, but if kids aren't showing up, it's not helping,' Miotto told the Globe.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Our dreams were shattered': the Black Californians forced from the city they built
In the early 1940s, Gloria Moore's parents migrated west from Arkansas, seeking – as many Black southerners did at the time – work, and a reprieve from poverty and Jim Crow. They first found jobs working in the wartime shipbuilding industry in Portland, Oregon, before ultimately settling in Russell City – a small, unincorporated community in the San Francisco East Bay, and a bastion of Black and Latino culture and life. There, the Moores bought several acres of land, built a house, and raised Gloria and her three siblings. Now 82, Moore remembers life in Russell City as rich, pastoral, and communal. The local school, where her mother worked as a cook, had dedicated teachers and an impressive orchestra; the dirt roads that cut through town led to vast oak fields that exploded with wildflowers every spring; and residents always looked out for one another. 'We really were a village,' Moore said, recalling reading National Geographic magazines over milk and cookies at the home of the local librarian. But in 1963, that village was razed to the ground. Citing eminent domain, the predominantly white city of Hayward forcibly removed residents of Russell City from their land, paying homeowners paltry sums for their property before incinerating every building in the community to make way for an industrial park. For the surviving members of the 205 families that were displaced, that trauma is haunting. 'We lost everything. Our community was erased. My parents, they lost their dignity,' said Moore, who now lives in Los Angeles. 'Our dreams were shattered and we were forced to scatter.' From West Oakland to San Francisco's Bayview-Hunter's Point neighborhood, the Bay Area has a long history of displacement that has largely been forgotten by those not directly impacted. But thanks to the work of a state-wide reparations taskforce, as well as local reparations efforts – including in Hayward, where city and county officials last week committed to allocating $1m to a fund for former residents of Russell City – these little-known stories are coming to light. For the next seven months, these histories are also on display at the Oakland Museum of California (Omca). Through the lenses of history, art, and architecture, Black Spaces: Reclaim and Remain explores patterns of displacement in the San Francisco East Bay as well as the resilience Black communities have shown despite being repeatedly pushed out of the homes and neighborhoods they have built – first from the racist deployment of policies like eminent domain and today through a housing affordability crisis that disproportionally affects communities of color. For museum director Lori Fogarty, it's a narrative with reverberations far beyond the Bay Area: 'This is a very local story, but it's also a national story.' With close proximity to the Bay Area's numerous shipyards and its own railroad stop, Russell City became a hub for Black southerners resettling in California during and immediately after the second world war. Although it was an unincorporated community, and therefore cut off from many of the services provided by the nearby municipality of Hayward, the town developed many of its own institutions, including a school, a fire brigade, and a blues club that attracted the likes of Ray Charles and Etta James. Despite this, the city of Hayward, which refused to deliver sewage and garbage services to Russell City despite residents' repeated requests, labelled the city a 'blight' – a term used repeatedly by local governments in the 1950s and 1960s seeking to remove communities of color from certain areas. In so doing, Hayward authorities gained grounds to lay claim over Russell City and force residents, like the grandparents of Marian Johnson, to sell their land for egregiously small sums. Johnson explains that her grandparents bought the land for $7,500, but only received $2,200 from the city in return. For years, she couldn't understand why her grandparents sold the six lots they had purchased for their extended family in Russell City and moved to East Oakland. But once she learned about eminent domain, she realized they had been forced out. 'They bought plots of land so that their children wouldn't have to pay mortgages, so their children could generate generational wealth by not having to pay rent,' Johnson said. 'All of this was stripped from our family.' Today, all that is left of Johnson's family plot is a willow tree planted by her grandfather. 'We would still be there,' she said, thinking of the present that could have been had Hayward not prioritized the development of an industrial park over the homes and livelihoods of more than two hundred families. Johnson's family story is one of those on display at Omca, where visitors are guided through three core elements that have defined the histories Black displacement in the East Bay: homes and domestic spaces, cultural and communal institutions, and destructive policies. Objects like the suitcase Otis Williams carried with him from Louisiana to the Marin City shipyards and Ernest Bean's 1940 home videos showing women pruning roses in a flourishing West Oakland garden transport viewers to a time of hope and prosperity; documents like a transcript of public hearings held regarding the Russell City redevelopment project and the paltry cheque made out to Johnson's grandfather, Bernice Patterson, for his land serve as stark reminders of the destruction that soon followed. 'It's important to understand that these are lived experiences,' said associate curator of history Dania Talley, who curated the exhibition. In the adjacent hall are three pieces from community collaborators that tell the story of continued displacement in the Bay Area, as well as resistance and hope for the community's future. Particularly striking is the full-scale replica of the East Oakland house that activists with housing justice organization Moms 4 Housing occupied for nearly two months in 2019. For Oakland Councilmember Carolle Fife, who participated in the 2019 occupation, there is a clear throughline between the forced displacement of Russell City residents in the 1960s and the inaccessibility of housing — especially for people of color — nationwide today. 'This is something historically Black folks have been going through in every urban center, and now even rural spaces throughout this country, because of systemic racism,' Fife said on opening night of the exhibition. Brandi Summers, an Oakland-born sociologist and associate professor at Columbia University, said the severity of the cost-of-living crisis in Oakland has once again forced displacement upon the city's Black residents, who are today moving to more distant suburbs and exurbs, or out of the state entirely. 'A lot of Black people actually don't feel comfortable in Oakland any more, regardless of whether we can actually live here,' said Summers, who also leads the scholar and artist collective Archive of Urban Futures, one of groups that collaborated on the exhibition. Against the backdrop of that crisis, California has in recent years emerged as a national leader when it comes to acknowledging past harms perpetuated against Black communities. In 2020, the state legislature established a nine-person reparations taskforce. And in 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom allocated $12m to racial justice initiatives and issued a formal apology for California's role in slavery. Individual localities have also engaged with the issue. San Francisco established its own advisory committee, which recommended in 2023 that the city issue individual reparations payments of $5m to qualifying individuals. And last week, Alameda County approved $750,000 in redress funds for former residents of Russell City. Hayward, which in 2021 issued a formal apology for its role in the community's destruction, earmarked an additional $250,000 for the fund. But many activists and community members have expressed disappointment at what they see as insufficient progress, especially after bills that would have issued direct cash payments and enabled those displaced through eminent domain to reclaim lost land failed to pass through the legislature last summer. And for former residents of Russell City, the $1m redress fund is woefully inadequate. 'It is pennies on the dollar for the value of the land that you took,' said Johnson. 'That's just a slap in the face.' AUP's Summers worries that public interest and political favor are turning away from issues of Black equity – especially as the current federal administration targets institutions, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture, that study and elevate the often-sidelined histories of Black Americans. It is for these reasons, Summers says, that shedding light on the legacies of Black Americans' past experiences of displacement, while still possible, is so critical. 'As funding for the arts and humanities goes, stories that are less known will disappear,' she said. For museum director Fogarty, the fact that Omca is telling histories of Black displacement at this moment is in itself a form of resistance. 'Look at what's happening. There is an overt governmental attack on these kinds of stories,' she said. 'There are many places in this country that this show could not be presented right now.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
'Wedding from hell' subjected guests to screaming children, a cash bar charging for WATER and food containing flies - leaving one attendee 'violently sick'
A woman revealed she was invited to 'a disaster of a wedding' where children screamed throughout the entire ceremony and she had to pay for water. Taking to Reddit, the woman, from the US, recounted what she called 'a mess' of a day- one so chaotic she ended up leaving early. From the unclear invitation to a chaotic ceremony, sweltering heat, and even a physical fight between family members, the guest claimed the whole day felt like a 'practical joke'. In the post the guest detailed how they received minimal information ahead of the event, just a time and place, with no wedding website or dress code guidance. They arrived to find the ceremony was outdoors on a blistering 95F (35C) day. However, to make matters worse, the ceremony was interrupted by screaming children whose parents failed to intervene. Things went downhill from there, as she discovered that at the bar even water wasn't free, and the venue was cash-only. It turns out dinner brought no relief as flies had descended on the buffet, and within hours, the guest says she became violently ill. She explained: 'There's FLIES ALL OVER THE FOOD. Seriously, all up in the food. I take the smallest amount possible to be polite. 'I was so hungry and desperate that I did take a few bites. Within hours, I was creating jobs for local plumbers. 'Next, dessert! Can't mess up dessert, right? Wrong. So wrong. Flies on the dessert, as expected by now. But how am I supposed to eat the dessert? 'There are no plates, napkins, forks, nothing. The buffet equipment has been cleared. So I watched as people walked around holding dessert in their hands.' Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse drunken family drama, out-of-control children, and a chaotic round of speeches, including one that triggered a physical altercation between the groom and the bride's brother, capped off the night. She explained: 'At this point, I just start taking notes for this post, six speeches in total, one of them actually good! Sweet, heartfelt, funny. I forgot where I was for a second. 'The rest… roasts, angry bride, brother started a fight with the groom. And I mean a literal fight. 'All I gathered was that it had something to do with the bride. The fight got taken to the lawn, and when people gathered to assist, I slipped out and came home.' She concluded: 'I truly don't feel like this was real life. Like this had to be a practical joke, right?? I may politely decline invitations I have no information about moving forward.' Many rushed to the comments to leave their own thoughts on the 'disastrous' wedding, with some questioning if it was legal to charge for water when selling alcohol. One person wrote: 'Not providing free water when you're selling booze is straight up illegal in my jurisdiction. 'The business and the duty manager could both get a hefty fine for violating the host responsibility conditions of their liquor license if they tried to charge for water here.' Another said: 'It's only required in licensed venues (ie where you can buy alcohol). Although customarily, most cafes and restaurants will provide tap water for free, they don't legally have to if they don't sell alcohol.' Someone else added: 'It doesn't sound like they hired anyone and this wasn't a business at all. 'The couple just chose a spot somewhere and set up their 'wedding'. This would also explain why there wasn't anyone to protect the food from insects or even from the heat which probably also contributed to OP's intestinal distress later on.' Another joked: 'This wasn't a wedding. It was a survival challenge.'
