Education activist: The Truant Teacher Problem

City Journal’s Larry Sand suggests “it’s hardly a secret that many teachers take advantage of the allowable sick days that are part of a typical union collective bargaining agreement.” But a new Fordham Institute study shows the average teacher misses eight school days a year on sick and personal leave, compared to 3 ¹/2 days for the average worker. And where 28.3 percent of teachers in traditional public schools are chronically absent, the rate in charter schools is 10.3 percent. Significantly, the rate is double in unionized charters than in non-unionized ones. The study also posits “a direct link between teacher attendance and student achievement.” Truant officers may go after chronically absent students, but parents and kids “can’t go knocking” on truant teachers’ doors.