Study: 10% Of New Jersey School Kids Play Hooky Big Time
By David Madden
NEWARK, N.J. (CBS) -- A newly released report indicates kids playing hooky from school is a serious problem in New Jersey, with poorer, urban areas particularly hard hit.
Looking at attendance records from the 2013-14 school year, the group Advocates for Children of New Jersey found 10% of students statewide miss 10% or more of the school year. That's "chronic absenteeism," according to Executive Director Cecilia Zalkind.
Economics has a lot to do with it. Zalkind cites results in the city of Camden.
"If you look across the district K-12, 29% of children are considered chronically absent," Zalkind told KYW Newsradio. "If you look at just their 11th and 12th grade data, it's closer to 47%."
She says the issue can be addressed without a lot of cost if districts confront it head on and bring parents into the discussion.
Camden officials say those numbers, while distressing, are not a surprise to them.
District Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard says they've been working on the issue on several fronts.
"It's training our educators," he says. "It's understanding the impact of poverty and it's insuring that we're not reflexibly suspending our students and keeping our students inside of school".
And it also requires students and their parents to comprehend the importance of showing up for class each and every day.
