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** Weekly Update
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A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
Sponsored by:
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In this week's edition: Chronic absenteeism has come down a lot from its peak in 2021-22, but it’s still higher than it was before the pandemic ([link removed]) . Anti-abortion lawmakers are pushing to get fetal development education in public schools ([link removed]) . Plus, here's what to know about the first national school voucher program ([link removed]) .
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** 7 insights about chronic absenteeism, a new normal for American schools
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Five years after the start of the pandemic, one of the most surprising ways that school has profoundly, and perhaps permanently, changed is that students aren’t showing up. Here are some insights from a May symposium at the American Enterprise Institute where scholars shared research on the problem of widespread absenteeism.
1. Chronic absenteeism has come down a lot from its peak in 2021-22, but it’s still 50 percent higher than it was before the pandemic.
Roughly speaking, the chronic absenteeism rate nearly doubled after the pandemic, from 15 percent of students in 2018-19 to a peak of almost 29 percent of students in 2021-22. This is the share of students who are missing at least 10 percent, or 18 or more days, of school a year. Chronic absenteeism has dropped by about 2 to 3 percentage points a year since then, but was still at 23.5 percent in 2023-24, according to the most recent AEI data.
Chronic absenteeism is more than 50 percent higher than it used to be. There are about 48 million public school students, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Almost 1 in 4 of them, or 11 million students, are missing a lot of school.
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Join the conversation on the future of higher education in Pennsylvania at City & State’s Higher Education Summit ([link removed]) on August 12 in Harrisburg. It will feature keynote remarks from Dr. Christopher Fiorentino, Chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, and top leaders tackling access, affordability, and workforce alignment.
Register today! ([link removed])
** Anti-abortion lawmakers push to get fetal development education in public schools
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After the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, public schools have become an increasingly important battleground in the fight over abortion rights. Even though 12 states now ban abortion in all circumstances, the number of procedures has increased nationwide since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. Public support for abortion rights has also risen. Many anti-abortion advocates hope that getting their message in front of students can help them win the hearts and minds of young people and change these trends in the long run.
While critics, including medical professionals and some parents, say that the fetal development education materials being introduced to schools are manipulative and little more than propaganda, Live Action and other groups that produce them maintain they are medically accurate and unbiased. Experts in sex education and abortion policy say a related problem is the dearth of sex education in schools — students, on average, receive only about six hours during their high school years — that creates a vacuum for anti-abortion groups to move into.
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** What’s a tax credit scholarship?
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10 things to know about the first national school voucher program.
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Under the “big, beautiful bill,” donors can receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits of up to $1,700 for contributions to scholarship-granting nonprofits. ([link removed])
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** Reading list
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Federal cuts threaten a major career path for young adults ([link removed])
Cancellation of AmeriCorps grants could make it harder for recent graduates to find jobs
Curbing the expulsion of kids with disabilities at child care ([link removed])
New state efforts aim to help providers create inclusive programs for young children
Tracking Trump: His actions to dismantle the Education Department, and more ([link removed])
The president is working to eliminate the Education Department and fighting ‘woke’ ideology in schools. A week-by-week look at what he’s done
STUDENT VOICE: Limited resources at underserved schools can keep students from getting the support they need ([link removed])
California is developing much-needed tools that help demystify pathways to higher education
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