'Ominous slowdown': Nearly 23% of US children were chronically absent from school in 2025 - Report
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Ominous slowdown': Nearly 23% of US children were chronically absent from school in 2025 - Report")
Representative image. Photograph: (Magnific)
This marks a decline from the peak of 28.3% recorded in 2022, at the height of the COVID pandemic. However, chronic absenteeism remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the pace of improvement appears to be slowing year over year.
Researchers have called it an "ominous" trend for the education system of the US after nearly a quarter of students were chronically absent from school last year. The American Enterprise Institute confirmed that 22.6 per cent of students missed 10 per cent or more of the school year in 2025.
This marks a decline from the peak of 28.3% recorded in 2022, at the height of the COVID pandemic. However, chronic absenteeism remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the pace of improvement appears to be slowing year over year. AEI described this trend as “an ominous slowdown that should be met with urgent action, not ignominious acceptance.”
“Missing school means missing valuable instructional time and poses serious implications for students' overall academic success and wellbeing,” according to the U.S. Department of Education. “Research suggests that children who are chronically absent for multiple years between preschool and second grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade.”
Overall chronic absenteeism rate
According to AEI's findings, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Oregon, and New Mexico recorded the highest absenteeism rates, while New Jersey, Virginia, and Alabama had the lowest. The think tank notes that the issue tends to be concentrated in historically disadvantaged school districts. In Illinois, for instance, the overall chronic absenteeism rate stood at around 25 per cent last year, but this figure rose to 31 per cent of low-income students and nearly 40 per cent among Black students.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, saw 32% of its students chronically absent last year. In response, a local organisation called A+ Schools has taken a hands-on approach, directly reaching out to families and providing supplies and transportation support as the school year begins. "Today is about bridging that gap, going and knocking on doors, letting folks know about what's available at the school to help them out," James Fogarty with A+ Schools told CBS Pittsburgh.
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Meanwhile, New York City recently resolved a lawsuit that accused its public school system of failing to catch early warning signs of school avoidance, thereby denying disabled students a complete education. To address this, the school system has introduced a plan to place liaisons in every school building, tasked with identifying obstacles, such as mental health issues, that keep students from attending school.
