Could School Choice Solve Minnesota’s Rising Absenteeism Problem?

Roll call in schools is apparently not what it used to be. Instead of hearing the customary “Here!” or “Present!” when teacher calls Johnny’s name, the response is increasingly no answer.

That’s due to the rising trend of absenteeism in our schools. “Last year, the state Education Department determined more than 1 in 4 students missed at least 10 percent of school days due to unexcused absences or suspensions,” MPR News recently reported.

Officials seem to be at a loss to explain this trend, so perhaps we can help them out with some possibilities. Let’s see … what’s happening in our schools lately that could be contributing to rising absenteeism?

For starters, consider that it was less than five years ago that our schools closed due to COVID.

Teacher unions kept many public schools in remote learning mode far beyond the initial months of the pandemic scare, even though other schools and organizations revived their in-person offerings far sooner. Is it possible that these extended school closures gave students the idea that it didn’t really matter if they showed up to fill an in-person seat?

Those same school closures gave way to remote learning sessions. Many parents got a front-row seat to these sessions … and weren’t impressed by the content their children were ingesting.

Could it be that parents realized their children weren’t learning much of value in school anyway, and thus put less priority on getting them dressed, out the door, and into the schoolhouse every single day?

Then there are the many reports of chaos in the schools.

We’ve detailed the numbers of classroom fights, violent attacks, and disrespectful incidents that take place in public schools around the state, so there’s no need to rehash. But could the chaos in these schools be another reason kids aren’t showing up to class? Are they tired of the turmoil—of trying to learn in spite of it—and deciding not to bother?

Finally, consider that many of our school districts have consolidated to such an extent that students are often one face in a sea of a thousand others. No longer are our public schools community institutions where a student belongs. Maybe students aren’t showing up because they simply don’t feel connected.

Now, I don’t know if any of these four possibilities will be discussed at the Minnesota State Capitol in the coming months, but never fear, the absenteeism problem will be discussed. Per MPR News:

Now, after months of quizzing students, advocates and school leaders on Minnesota’s high rates of absenteeism, some state lawmakers are ready to talk through their findings at the Capitol. They’re focused on better data collection, along with improving outreach to families and changes around transportation that could make it easier for kids.

Good for them. The real question, however, is whether these talks, data collection, or outreach will actually solve anything.

In fact, legislators themselves admit that the problem is difficult to address:

‘The hard part is, the root cause in every case is different, so there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,’ said Rep. Ben Bakeberg, R-Jordan, co-chair of the Student Attendance and Truancy Legislative Study Group who also works as a middle school principal. ‘We won’t be able to say … if we address X issue, it’s going to address attendance and truancy.’ [Emphasis added.]

Bakeberg makes a very good point about there not being a “one-size-fits-all” approach to solving this problem.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what our public education system often gets wrong: Education officials treat schooling as a one-size-fits-all issue. It’s not.

But what many fail to realize is that there is one way to break free from that one-size-fits-all education approach, and that is Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).

ESAs provide families with a digital wallet filled with roughly $7,000 per student to use toward the school of their choice. That means that families can craft their children’s education—picking and choosing from private school, homeschool, microschool, various extra-curricular classes, or even extra tutoring—to the type of learning that best fits his or her needs.

If kids are getting the type of learning that best fits their needs, then it logically follows that they will also be less likely to dodge class, thereby solving the ever-growing problem of absenteeism.

Furthermore, there’s a good chance that many ESAs will be used toward smaller, community-friendly schools. This means that students will be more likely to feel as though they belong.

Students and teachers will notice that they are missing and be more likely to reach out. And thanks to the flexibility of these smaller schools, teachers and administrators will likely find ways to fix any problems that arise more quickly, rather than letting them fester until kids drop out of school entirely.

But in order to have this option, our legislators must first stand up for parents and students, passing the ESAs that roughly three-quarters of school parents want.