Chronic absenteeism has been on the rise since the pandemic shut all schools down back in 2020. New data shows that nearly 45% of CPS students are missing 10% of their days in school. That’s not even the worse part, 49% of low-income CPS students are chronically absentees. That is nearly half and when you compare it to the state level it’s a huge increase. Illinois’ chronic absenteeism rate is at 30%.
The statistics weren’t always like this. Before the pandemic, CPS’ absenteeism rates were at 25% for low-income students, and 24% for all students overall. This helps us point the finger at the pandemic for the rising absenteeism rates, but other factors also play a huge role in that data. Other factors include lack of access to transportation, the need for child care, and or to work a job to help support their families.
I decided to conduct an interview with one of my childhood friends, also a student at Farragut Career Academy. He chose to remain anonymous. Due to his job, he leaves school early three days a week. He misses the 5th-8th period. His family is low-income like many others in the Little Village and North Lawndale neighborhoods. I started the interview off by asking him why he got a job in the first place. He responded, “I need money. I got to support my family in any way I can. On top of that, I have expenses like equipment and supplies for school.”
Courtesy of Rae Allen (Flickr CC0)
Supporting Their Families
Financial stability is a huge issue that contributes to absenteeism rates. I personally know so many people that are forced to balance school and work at the same time, and not for their own wants but for their family’s needs. With that response, I followed up by asking how he was able to manage school and work at the same time.
“I communicate with my teachers a lot. They are very understanding and support me by giving me extra work and with anything else I might need,” he stated.
I asked him if it gets hard to balance. “It does. It’s a lot of homework considering I miss 4 periods. But I believe it’s worth it at the end of the day.”
“Do you finish all the work?” I asked him.
“I do, but I feel like I should be spending more time on it than I currently do. My grades aren’t that good but I’m trying to get them back up.”
Affect On Students’ Success
Although it looks like my good friend is doing the right thing by supporting his family and catching up with his homework, missing school on a regular basis can have terrible effects on a student’s performance. School is vital and especially for children in elementary school. These early elementary grades are when children learn the foundation of vital math and reading skills. If children are absent they are more likely to not be reading proficiently by 3rd grade.
Academic success is also lowered when a student is chronically absent. These students are more likely to drop out of high school than continue on a path to higher education.
What Can Be Done?
Some big steps have been taken to combat this huge problem including Attendance Works and the Every Student Succeeds Act. Attendance Works is a national and state initiative aimed to promote the importance of going to school every day. This organization makes sure that school districts track and report chronic absence dates and intervenes with families to help. The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to report all chronic absenteeism data and even allows them to spend federal money to reduce it.
Written by Gabriel Salgado
Sources:
Attendance Works: Chronic Absence
edmentum: How Chronic Absenteeism Affects Student Achievement
Illinois Policy: NEARLY HALF OF CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS STUDENTS CHRONICALLY ABSENT IN 2022
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Chris Sampson Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Rae Allen Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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