Chronic Absence Bill Advances in California Assembly

The California State Senate this week gave unanimous approval to legislation that would support the tracking of chronic absence rates in schools across the state.

SB 1357 would set a common definition of chronic absence for the state--missing 10 percent of the school year. It would require including attendance information for individual students in the state's longitudinal data base, as long as there is federal funding to support the effort.

And it would make chronic absence analysis and intervention a key part of an early warning system, geared at preventing high school students from dropping out.

"We all know that dropping out is a process, not a specific event, and the process is marked by many indicators along the way, including school attendance--and the flip side of attendance, excessive absenteeism, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento),the bill's sponsor, said before the floor vote Tuesday. "Poor attendance and chronic absence, even in the early grades, is highly predictive of higher dropout rates later on."

The bill, which now moves to the Assembly, signals the emergence of the influential Steinberg as a champion for chronic absence reporting. And it demonstrates the tenacity of the California Attendance and Absence Partnership, which is backing the measure.

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