America in Decline, Part Two

Students who miss 10 percent or more of the school year — typically 18 days or more — are considered “chronically absent.” In Washington, D.C., 43 percent of students were chronically absent during the last school year. At the high school level, the number was 47 percent.

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D.C. is a wasteland these days. But chronic student absenteeism is a problem throughout America.

Nationally, more than 25 percent of students are chronically absent. I interpret this to mean that more than one-fourth of the nation’s students are forfeiting the possibility of receiving an adequate education. That’s a lot of minds to waste.

In the previous decade, chronic absenteeism was much less of problem than it is today. The pandemic, of course, contributed mightily to the dip. However, in 2022-23 the numbers improved only slightly from the previous school year. This indicator of national decline seems here to stay.

[And even when they attend regularly, are they getting an education? Or are they getting an ideological indoctrination? Absenteeism and discipline are hardly the only components contributing to decline in public education. — Ed]

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