Michigan cannot improve its education system until students are actually in school, but chronic absenteeism isn’t simply a policy problem; it’s a student support problem. Until we address the barriers keeping kids out of classrooms, no amount of accountability, incentives, mandates or enforcement will move the needle.

Through our years as the CEO and chair of the board at Communities In Schools of Michigan, one fact has remained painfully consistent: Michigan’s attendance rates aren’t good. Nearly 30% of Michigan students miss 18 or more days of school each year, almost a full month of lost educational and developmental opportunities. Among economically disadvantaged students, the rate climbs to 38.6%.

Despite modest improvements, we remain far from the 19.7% chronic absenteeism rate we saw before the COVID pandemic.This is not a problem that is going away. And unless we confront it head-on, it will continue to shape outcomes for all Michigan students.The question is “why?” At CIS of Michigan, which partners with 62 schools in 12 counties and serves roughly 33,000 students each year, we don’t have to guess.

Before we begin work in any school, our team completes a needs assessment to determine the school’s primary goal in one of four categories: attendance, behavior, coursework or social-emotional learning. Last year, one-third of our partner schools identified attendance as their top priority; half of those cited transportation barriers as a major impediment…