Teacher absenteeism has jumped since the pandemic, costing schools billions

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

TEACHER ABSENTEEISM IS ON THE RISE FROM COAST TO COAST –

HAVING JUMPED  SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

ACCORDING TO DATA COLLECTED FROM KELLY SERVICES –

ON A TYPICAL DAY – 10% OF TEACHERS ARE ABSENT FROM THE CLASSROOM–

AN INCREASE FROM 6% DURING THE PANDEMIC.

IN SOME PARTS OF WEST VIRGINIA THIS YEAR – THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REPORTS —  – INSTRUCTORS WERE ABSENT FOR A THIRD OR MORE OF THEIR CONTRACT YEAR.

ON AN AVERAGE DAY IN LAS VEGAS –

NEARLY 25% OF SCHOOL TEACHERS WERE ABSENT.

BACK IN 2019 – AMERICAN TEACHERS HAD AN ATTENDANCE RATE OF 95% — WHICH EQUATES TO AN AVERAGE OF 9 MISSED DAYS – AND ABSENTEEISM HAD DECREASED IN THE TWO DECADES PRIOR TO THE LOCKDOWNS OF 2020. 

SCHOOLS ARE TYPICALLY IN SESSION FOR 180 DAYS PER YEAR – AND TEACHER CONTRACTS USUALLY ALLOW EDUCATORS TO MISS ABOUT 10 DAYS OF WORK WITHOUT A LOSS IN PAY.

EDUCATION OFFICIALS SAY SEVERAL REASONS CONTRIBUTE TO TEACHER ABSENTEEISM – INCLUDING LOW PAY, STUDENT BEHAVIOR, AND STRESS.

FREQUENT TEACHER ABSENCES NEGATIVELY AFFECT STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND ARE COSTLY FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

WHEN EDUCATORS DON’T SHOW UP – SCHOOLS NEED TO BRING IN SUBSTITUTES – WHICH MEANS INSTRUCTION INTENSITY AND CONSISTENCY MAY DECLINE.

DATA FROM THE REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORY PROGRAM SUGGESTS THAT “WHEN TEACHERS ARE ABSENT FOR TEN DAYS, STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT SCORES MAY DECREASE BY APPROXIMATELY 3.3% OF A STANDARD DEVIATION”.

AND SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS CAN COST ANYWHERE FROM $100-$250 PER DAY.

ACCORDING TO BLOOMBERG ESTIMATES – “IF EVEN 8% OF THE NATION’S 3.2 MILLION FULL-TIME PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS CALL OUT, THAT CONSERVATIVELY AMOUNTS TO A DAILY COST OF ROUGHLY $25.6 MILLION FOR DISTRICTS, OR $4.4 BILLION PER SCHOOL YEAR.”

EDUCATION OFFICIALS SAY TEACHER ABSENTEEISM IS HAVING A MAJOR IMPACT ON SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO REBOUND SINCE THE PANDEMIC. 

FOR SAN – I’M LT.

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