Getting back to work.

In the October 8 edition of EW there is an article on absenteeism in elementary school.  Chronic absenteeism, which is defined as 10% or more, can lead to poor academic progress.  The absenteeism has a higher rate among the poorer students, leading to an increased divided seen academically between income levels.
Related to the issues of income and student outcomes is the increase in students without food. Jeff Bridges says that there has been an increase in kids coming to school hungry by as much as 30% over the last three years.



In the school meals article, funding for the nations school meals programs was looked at.  There are currently two senate versions of the bill to re-fund the program.  One of them would bills would offset its funding increases through cuts to the food stamp program.  One wonders if that is just pulling food off of one table and placing it on another?
In the end, student who fail to show up, or students who fail to get the nutrition needed to function in an academic setting, under-preform when compared to peers without such deficits.
Maybe a solution to at least the attendance problem might be the solution of tracking students with electronic devices that is taking place in two districts in Texas.  It is possible that if the attendance rates were to go up, nutrition would follow as students would be in schools where food programs can add to their diets.