Not Present or Accounted For: The Attendance Crisis in Baltimore Schools
By Melody Simmons
BALTIMORE, MD (2008-09-02) More students miss school in Baltimore than any other jurisdiction in Maryland. Such absences can lead to a bleak path as young lives disconnect from academics and fall irreparably behind, frequently leading to dropping out. Reasons for truancy range from poverty, illness homelessness and boredom, yet the crisis has pushed a stark reality on city life here: Once school is no longer in a teenager's life, thousands of our young people time and again fall prey to the ills of the street.
This fall, WEAA is producing a 12-part documentary on the school attendance epidemic called Not Present or Accounted For: The Attendance Crisis in Baltimore Schools. In addition to reports on the crisis and what is going on to change it, listeners can download in-depth interviews and links to community advocacy groups working to ease the problem at our website, WEAA.org. A weekly blog, Hall Pass, will also expand on the issues and invite listener's comments.
The series is supported through a generous grant from the Open Society Institute of Baltimore.
Link to WEAA Newsroom: Truancy Series
Weekly BLOG | 
