Unions: Too Short on Staff To Curb Student Absences; Tell Council of 'Epidemic'

The United Federation of Teachers and Local 372 of District Council 37 told a City Council hearing Nov. 12 that drastic action needed to be taken to reduce student absenteeism, despite the threat of future budget cuts to the Department of Education and Administration for Children's Services.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow A SENSE OF URGENCY: City Council Member Bill de Blasio and United Federation of Teachers Vice President Michael Mulgrew discuss a growing problem of student absenteeism that the union official called 'a precursor of dropping out.'

"Chronic absenteeism has reached epidemic proportions, especially in those schools serving communities of high economic need," said UFT Vice President of Career and Technical High Schools Michael Mulgrew.

90,000 Missed a Month

In his testimony he referred to the New School's recent study on absenteeism, titled "Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families," which found that 90,000 children in elementary school missed at least one month of school in the 2007-2008 school year, a startling increase over what had previously been reported on the K through 5 level. In 12 of New York's 32 school districts, better than 25 percent of elementary school children were absent for more than 10 percent of the school year.

"The lead findings of this study ... must be a clarion call for action," said Mr. Mulgrew. "Absenteeism during those formative years often leads to bigger problems in middle and high school, and is a precursor of dropping out."

His testimony came after a three-hour questioning of representatives of the DOE and ACS, during which City Council Members repeatedly pressed for straightforward answers on what could be done to close the absentee gap.

Mr. Mulgrew took particular umbrage with the DOE's suggestion that much of the work had to be done at the school level, by Principals and Teachers. "The DOE's answer cannot simply be to say this is one more obligation a Principal must fulfill ... Principals are completely overburdened, more now than ever," he said. "A workable solution is going to require collaboration between the city and the community ... needs and resources must be aligned."

Sees 'Domino Effect'

Local 372 Vice President Santos Crespo, who represents DOE school aides and cafeteria staff, said that "the high incidence of absenteeism in both our elementary and secondary schools is just another collapse in the domino effect which was precipitated by the New York City Education and Reform Accountability Act of 2002," the act that granted mayoral control of schools.

He railed that the "reformed DOE has put test scores and rankings before the basic needs of students, and their families." He said that absenteeism had grown in part because Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein had laid off Local 372 Family Paraprofessionals as one of his first fiscal initiatives. "Our Family Paras actually made home visits to follow up on student absences," he said.

Mr. Crespo and Mr. Mulgrew struck the same note in their testimonies — that while the DOE's new initiatives, such as a computerized attendance system that alerts school personnel to student absence, were helpful, they could not make up for actual feet on the street. "Sophisticated computer program[s] costing tens of millions of dollars cannot replace the diligence of community members who are also school support service employees," said Mr. Crespo.

Other speakers at the hearing included UFT Social Workers, Guidance Counselors and Attendance Teachers, each of whom testified that they were spread too thin throughout the system.

"There are almost 1.1 million students in New York City public schools and [fewer] than 400 Attendance Teachers to serve them," said chapter leader Steve Grossman. "Attendance Teachers cover up to 20 schools scattered all over a borough." UFT President Randi Weingarten has suggested drawing from the Absent Teacher Reserve to expand the ranks of these Attendance Teachers.

Insight Into Absentees

Ann Englesbe, the chapter leader for Social Workers & Psychologists, said that her group identified specific problems among children in a way that no centralized system ever could. She cited a case in which a student had been contacted by a U.S. Army recruiter in her home, the student's mother had pushed for her to join the Army against her will, and so she started staying home from school to avoid getting the high school diploma necessary to join the armed forces.

During the hearing, Council Members, ACS and DOE representatives and union leaders all recognized publicly that with budget cuts on the horizon, addressing absenteeism could become even harder. But Mr. Mulgrew seemed hopeful that the UFT could still foster reform, and said the union was planning on holding a summit on the issue with elected officials and city agencies in January.

"We are hoping that we can have a constructive conversation ... to break down the silos that are continually in the way," he said. "We know there's going to be less ... what we need more than anything now is to do things smarter."