I have been reading and hearing many discussions about chronic absenteeism in the Maine and national press. I am concerned that the conversations do not look closely enough at root causes for this growing absenteeism rate, nor do they examine what our education system could do to counter this trend.

For instance, there is the presumption that poverty is the primary driver of absenteeism. It is a crime that in the richest nation on earth we have the poverty and homelessness that we do; there is no excuse for this. Clearly poverty in the United States is and always has been a root cause of disconnection from school.

But it’s not the only one.

I believe there are other fundamental causes of chronic absenteeism. The opioid epidemic has left the children of people with substance abuse disorder often abandoned to their own devices, or taken in by praiseworthy grandparents who may exert less pressure on their grandchildren’s school attendance for fear of alienating them. LGBTQ students often are subject to harassment and bullying in their schools and on social media. Mental health issues, dropping out, absenteeism and suicide rates are much higher for these students, especially where the dominant school culture is averse to or unable to insure inclusion and safety for all young people.

School shootings and mass shootings are another factor increasing anxiety and school aversion among a segment of our youth. Drills to practice safety skills for when a shooter enters the school and starts murdering friends and teachers bring a much starker and more immediate reality home for today’s student. Systemic racism like poverty plays a fundamental role in school disconnection; it is a curse that our country must fix.

And then there is the continual attack on public education from the right, a steady drip, drip, drip of criticism and funding schemes to move public moneys into private spheres. Young people absorb this negativity about the institution of schooling from their parents and their communities, making it easier for them to cut the cord with their education — and making it harder politically for schools to fund the kinds of programs that are needed.

And finally we have the aftershock of the pandemic, during which students experienced what a period of no school was like, loosening the connections between them and their education, enough for a million nationally to never return.

Beyond society-wide issues of poverty, violence, racism and socioeconomic inequality, I am interested in what local schools, communities and education systems can do to address chronic absenteeism.

Here are some ideas on the individual school and school district level.

School districts need to prioritize making sure that every student in every school feels safe from bullying and discrimination for their gender orientation, race, and economic status. Social workers in schools should reach out to every family where a student’s attendance is starting to slip to understand what the barriers they face are, and to help them deal with those challenges.

Schools should support and expand alternative education to serve students for whom the larger school is just not a good fit, and who need a strong relational connection with school to continue attending. In Maine we have two exemplary programs that send teachers out to students’ homes to reconnect them to their education: Wayfinder Schools’ Passages Program and the Threshold Program of the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences. These and other alternative programs work.

Significant changes in educational priorities can’t happen without profound changes in how the state and in turn our society views the mission of education. When a student graduates from our public system, what are the most important characteristics we want them to embody? The outcomes I believe we should embrace include graduates being lifelong learners, being civically involved in the affairs of our local communities, and being compassionate, hard-working and kind members of those same communities.

To get to these outcomes we need to change our headset as educators, from the education system on down to the teacher in each class room. We should remove the incessant pressure all teachers, students and schools feel about “performing” on standardized tests, and replace that pressure with a fervent commitment that every child in every school will be connected to at least one adult who they perceive cares about them.

Our Department of Education and our media need to publicly extol and honor the schools that are making the most effort in these areas. Imagine schools competing to be classified as a top tier caring, civically involved and compassionate school? Our state and federal legislators need to figure out a way to pay teachers a decent salary, honor their work and their commitment to kids, fund the mental health and social work programs that all schools need, as well as requiring and funding more professional development for teachers especially in the social/emotional literacy area.

For almost 40 years we have been deluded into thinking that test scores indicate how well our students and their teachers and schools are doing. Although this focus has made a huge amount of money for the purveyors of educational tests and assessments, it has deeply wounded our educational enterprise. The current interest in absenteeism rates could open the door to thinking differently about what our purpose is as educators. We just have to honestly and courageously open that door and work with the real issues that lie behind it because a poorly educated citizenry will surely result in the contraction and possible destruction of our democracy.

Institutional love is expressed fiscally. With enough public pressure on legislators and policymakers, we can lower our chronic absenteeism rate by giving teachers and administrators the resources and validation needed to redirect our schools’ focus to their most important and fundamental mission: helping students feel they are valued, belong, and have a voice in their school, community and nation.

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