NYC’s absent minded parents

City Hall’s massive data dump of health conditions in New York’s neighborhoods uses so many measurements that the only guarantee is a fog of statistics.

The community profiles purport to measure how many times a week people in BedStuy eat fruits and vegetables, how many times residents in Midtown exercise and how many tobacco retailers there are in Bayside. They count airpollution particles, psychiatric hospitalizations and poverty rates.

Still, one number cited in The Post for a Brooklyn community stands out. In Brownsville, schools report that 40 percent of local elementary students are chronically absent, meaning they miss at least 20 days a year. The citywide average is 20 percent, though it varies greatly based on race and ethnicity. In the largely white Financial District, only 4 percent of students are chronically absent.

Attendance is one of the best predictors of educational success. Students who aren’t in school can’t learn, and are more likely to drop out, commit crimes and go to jail. They’re also more likely to have children out of wedlock who will repeat the life pattern.

We’ve known this for decades, just as we know the decision by parents to let their kids skip school is not caused by poverty, racism or inequality. The students are too young to make such important decisions, so it’s adults who are making the free choice to deny their children an education.

That’s child abuse by neglect. Let’s see City Hall measure that.