America's Chronic Absenteeism Epidemic: A Crisis Beyond COVID 19 The American Enterprise Institute's recent report paints a stark picture of an education system struggling to recover from the pandemic.
Nearly a quarter of U. S. students were chronically absent from school last year, a trend that researchers have dubbed "ominous.
" But this isn't just a footnote to the pandemic; chronic absenteeism remains above pre pandemic levels, and progress in addressing it appears to be slowing. The numbers are disconcerting: 22.