August 10, 2016 The Skanner Page 9
Health Wellness & Nutrition: BACK TO SCHOOL
A Look at Chronic Absenteeism Across America
Government data shows the problem of students habitually missing school varies from state to state,
with about one-third of students in the nation’s capital absent 15 days or more in a single school year
By JENNIFER C. KERR
and MEGHAN HOYER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
problem of students ha-
bitually missing school
varies widely from state
to state, with about one-
third of students in the
nation’s capital absent 15
days or more in a single
school year, according
to an Associated Press
analysis of government
statistics.
Overall, the national
average of chronic ab-
senteeism was 13 per-
cent, or about 6.5 million
students, the Education
Department said.
“Chronic absenteeism
is a national problem,”
Secretary of Education
John B. King Jr. said in a
statement Wednesday.
“Frequent absences from
school can be devastating
to a child’s education.”
The report was the irst
release of chronic absen-
tee igures from the de-
partment.
The Obama administra-
tion began a program last
fall that now works with
states and local groups
in 30 communities to
identify mentors to help
habitually absent kids
get back on track. As part
of the efort, the White
House said Wednesday
that a New York-based
company, STATE Bags,
was donating 30,000
backpacks to children
being mentored in the
program.
Of the 100 largest
school districts by en-
rollment, Detroit had the
highest rate of chronic
absenteeism.
Nearly 58 percent of
students were chronical-
ly absent in the 2013-2014
school year.
Washington state and
Alaska had chronic ab-
sentee rates hovering
21st International AIDS Conference Commences
on “Mandela Day”
Linda Villarosa
BAI Contributing Writer
FREDDIE ALLEN/BAI/NNPA
I
t was entirely itting that the
21st International AIDS Con-
ference kicked of on July
in Durban, South Africa, on
“Mandela Day,” a global celebra-
tion of the great man’s birthday.
In Durban’s cavernous Interna-
tional Convention Centre, Mak-
gatho’s son, Ndaba, joined his
cousin Kweku, and the two spoke
movingly of their grandfather’s
work and legacy.
“Sixteen years ago my grand-
father arrived on this stage at
the tipping point,” said Kweku
Mandela. “Madiba asked us to
do something about HIV/AIDS
treatment. I’m humbled to stand
before you continuing my grand-
father’s legacy in my small way,”
he said, using the isiXhosa term
of endearment Madiba, or fa-
ther, that many South Africans
use when speaking of the senior
Mandela.
International
superstars
Queen Latifah and Com-
mon provided an unof-
icial kick-of to AIDS
2016 on Saturday with a
concert urging the world
to “keep the promise and
stop AIDS.”
At a protest before
the event, Latifah, who
played an HIV positive
mother in the 2007 HBO
ilm
“Life
Support,”
marched alongside the
mayor of Durban and
the late Nkosi Johnson’s
adoptive mother.
And
South
Afri-
can-born
celebrity
Charlize Theron made
a dazzling appearance
at Monday’s opening
ceremony. In language
ripped from the social
justice script, the Acad-
emy Award-winning ac-
tress and U.N. Messenger
for Peace said:
A group of people walk past an AIDS memorial in Durban, South Africa.
“The real reason we haven’t
beaten this epidemic boils down
to one simple fact: We value some
lives more than others. We love
men more than women. Straight
love more than gay love. White
skin more than Black skin. The
rich more than the poor. Adults
more than adolescents.”
Still, some things remain the
same. Largely because of stigma,
the epidemic continues to harm
those least able to beat it back:
poor communities of color and
so-called key populations, includ-
ing young women and girls, men
who have sex with men, trans-
gender individuals, sex workers,
drug users.
“HIV incidence among adults
is either stable or increasing,”
stated conference co-chair Chris
Beyrer, M.D., who also pointed
to measurable declines in global
AIDS funding. “It is too soon to
declare victory.”
around one-quarter of
students with that level
of absences.
According to AP’s anal-
ysis, girls were just as
likely as boys to habitu-
ally miss school. Nearly
22 percent of all Ameri-
can Indian students were
reported as regularly
absent, followed by Na-
tive Hawaiians at 21 per-
cent and black students
at 17 percent. Hispanic
and white students were
close to the national av-
erage of 13 percent.
Students are regularly
missing school for lots
of reasons, Balfanz says.
Many are poor and could
be staying home to care
for a sibling or helping
with elder care. Others
are avoiding school be-
cause they’re being bul-
lied or they worry it’s not
safe. And then, there are
some students who sim-
ply skip school.
Schools should be cre-
ating welcoming envi-
ronments to make stu-
dents feel wanted each
day, Balfanz says. They
also need to build rela-
tionships with the kids
who are regularly absent
to igure out what’s keep-
ing them away, he said.
As part of its Civil
Rights Data Collection,
the department surveyed
all public schools in the
country, covering over
95,000 schools and 50
million students. Rough-
ly one in seven of all K-12
public schools nation-
wide reported having
not a single chronically
absent student that year.
Chronic absenteeism
is one of several topics
covered in the data col-
lection. It also looked
at school discipline and
high-rigor course ofer-
ings.
Other igures from the
report:
• Black preschool chil-
dren are 3.6 times as
likely to get one or
more
out-of-school
suspensions as their
white counterparts.
• Black children repre-
sent 19 percent of pre-
schoolers, yet they ac-
count for 47 percent of
preschool kids getting
suspended.
• White students make
up 41 percent of pre-
schoolers, and 28 per-
cent of preschool kids
with suspensions.
• Nationwide,
almost
half of high schools
ofered classes in cal-
culus, and more than
three-quarters ofered
Algebra II.
• 33 percent of high
schools with substan-
tial black and Latino
enrollment
ofered
calculus. That com-
pares to 56 percent of
high schools with low
numbers of black and
Latino children that
ofered calculus. Simi-
lar gaps were seen for
physics, chemistry and
Algebra II.