the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 30, 2024
During this past school year in Michigan nearly 30% of K-12 students were chronically absent—that is, students missed ten percent—18 days or more during a 180-day school year.
It should come as no big surprise that poverty is a substantial “driver” of the highest absenteeism rates. Districts with the greatest percentage of poor students have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism and those with the fewest poor students have the lowest rates.
And when you throw test scores into the mix—the wealthiest schools districts, with the highest test scores, show a 16% absenteeism rate for their kids, while the 50 lowest-scoring districts, including cities like Flint, Muskegon and Pontiac, had chronic absenteeism rates of 40%!
People who work in the schools, understandably, want to do something to combat the problem of absenteeism. Could there be more counselors? Of course. More tutoring? Of course. But if the kids can’t even make it to school—those measures fall by the wayside.
If poverty is the driving force for the problems of absenteeism and school performance—here in Michigan, as well as all over the country, it is poverty that has to be eliminated. It’s going to take a social fight by the working class for the right to have decent well-paid jobs and a social system where resources support human needs.