Across the U.S., millions of students are struggling with pandemic learning loss, exacerbated by rising teacher absenteeism. Pre-pandemic, teachers had a 95% attendance rate, but now, 72% of schools report higher absentee rates. In Michigan, teacher absences are 50% above pre-pandemic levels, and in Chicago and New York City, chronic absenteeism has significantly increased.
This trend is partly due to the increased stress and burnout from managing students’ academic, behavioral, and mental health issues. To address this, officials and administrators should tackle factors contributing to teacher stress, revert to pre-pandemic sick leave policies, and enforce accountability measures like tying salary raises to attendance and student performance. Rhode Island’s approach to collecting and publicizing teacher absenteeism data should be adopted by more states.
Addressing teacher absenteeism is crucial to overcoming student absenteeism and learning loss. It requires teachers to commit and elected officials to implement necessary reforms despite opposition. This is an urgent challenge that must be met.
