Policymakers around the country are grappling with a generational crisis in the face of learning loss that resulted from pandemic lockdowns. But ask any classroom teacher and they’ll tell you: the massive investments and resources dedicated to academic recovery won’t mean much if a substantial number of students are not in the classroom to begin with.
The U.S. Department of Education reported that over 30% of students in 20 states missed at least three weeks of school in 2022-23, the most recent data available. This isn’t just a matter of empty desks; absenteeism fuels learning loss. Studies show that students who miss significant school time are at higher risk of falling behind academically, failing grades, and dropping out.
In Texas, chronic absenteeism—defined as missing at least 10% of school days, or roughly 18 days per year—surged during the pandemic and peaked at 25 percent. And the students who learned to drop out of Zoom lessons without notice appear to have internalized that they are not missing out on much when they cut class. By 2023, the most recent data available, one-in-five Texas schoolchildren was chronically absent, double pre-COVID numbers. The pandemic erased years of educational gains, with standardized test scores reflecting significant gaps, particularly in math and reading.
The pandemic disrupted routines, eroded trust in institutions, and made attendance feel optional for many families. In Victoria, Texas, for example, absenteeism doubled despite early school re-openings, with 30% of students chronically absent in recent years. Parents cite financial struggles, health concerns, and disengagement as barriers, while students grapple with anxiety and a lack of connection to their schools.
It is a daunting task, but the answer is simpler than some would like to acknowledge: we must make schools places students and parents are eager to interact with every morning. Here in Texas, lawmakers took a promising first step by passing a landmark school choice bill that frees families from a system in which they are assigned a school based on geography rather than student needs. The new law offers a promising antidote—giving families the freedom to choose schools that inspire attendance and engagement.
The landmark $1 billion school choice bill in Texas expands parental options, allowing families to select schools—public, private, charter, and homeschool—that best meet their children’s needs. By fostering competition, school choice incentivizes schools to create environments where students want to show up. Whether it’s innovative curricula, robust mental health support, or flexible schedules, choice empowers schools to address the diverse reasons behind absenteeism, tackling the root cause of the crisis.
Some school choice opponents are more comfortable attempting to use punitive measures to solve absenteeism. Governor Abbott has signed new legislation to strengthen data tracking and reporting on truant students, while also expanding the criteria for identifying students at risk of dropping out.
Punitive measures, like truancy prosecutions, only deepen the disconnect families already sense in the education status quo. In Texas, despite decriminalizing truancy in 2015, courts can still fine parents or order students to drop out for a GED—an outcome that affected at least 700 students in 2021-22. Such approaches treat families as adversaries, not partners, and do little to make school appealing.
Opponents of school choice, often wedded to a one-size-fits-all system, argue for stricter enforcement as the solution to absenteeism. This approach prioritizes court interventions over engagement with children and their families and ignores the reality that coercion doesn’t inspire enthusiasm.
In contrast, school choice respects parents as decision-makers who know what’s best for their children. Choice offers them alternatives—schools that align with their values and their children’s needs. States with robust school choice programs, like Florida, have seen higher attendance rates and academic recovery post-COVID, as parents select schools that foster belonging and accountability. Texas’s new law, by expanding access to such options, can replicate these successes. It’s not about abandoning public schools but about giving all schools the incentive to innovate. When parents can “vote with their feet,” all schools will prioritize student engagement, from addressing mental health to offering hands-on learning that excites kids.
To critics who fear school choice undermines equity, I argue it does the opposite. Chronic absenteeism disproportionately affects low-income, Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. Giving these families access to better-fitting schools levels the playing field. Punitive truancy measures, meanwhile, exacerbate disparities, as marginalized groups face harsher consequences.
Texas stands at a crossroads. We can continue down the path of prosecution, alienating families and perpetuating disengagement, or we can embrace school choice, empowering parents to find schools their children are excited to attend. The 2025 school choice law is a bold step toward the latter, promising to curb absenteeism by making education a place of opportunity, not obligation. Let’s trust families to lead the way.
Jon Lineberger is the President of ACE Scholarships Texas