Lockdowns fostered rampant truancy in city public schools: Drastic action required

The COVID faculty closures goosed persistent absenteeism, and it’s not getting higher: Town wants to have a look at drastic measures to show issues round.

Practically 56% of New York Metropolis Division of Training Twelfth-graders missed at the least 18 days of college within the final faculty 12 months; total persistent absenteeism hit 40%.

This matches the numbers The Submit’s Susan Edelman dug up final 12 months: She cited about 375,000 persistent absentees out of 938,000 registered DOE college students.

Because the Empire Middle report Faculty’s Out Without end notes, persistent truancy is particularly rampant amongst black and Hispanic high-schoolers, at practically 50%.

This implies added studying loss and larger probabilities at dropping out, amongst different ills.

But it surely’s no barrier to “graduating”: DOE guidelines say college students can’t be denied credit score or promotion “based mostly on lack of seat time alone.”

That’s not working: The children must see penalties for skipping, whether or not it’s being held again, dropping out on their free MetroCards or penalties from their mother and father — which might require DOE colleges to truly be in contact with mother and father (far too a lot of them can’t be bothered).

We anticipate Colleges Chancellor David Banks is appalled at these numbers.

The query is whether or not he can face down the ideologues and self-interested do-nothings that management a lot of the DOE system to make a distinction.