All in For Attendance Act

Key Points

• This bill lets local school districts use existing federal funds for programs that tackle chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year. About 22% of students were chronically absent during the 2024-2025 school year, and no state has fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.
• Schools could spend federal money on things like high-impact tutoring, mentorship programs, home visits by teachers, and partnerships with local health and transportation services to remove barriers that keep kids from showing up to class.
• The bill requires better attendance data tracking, including breaking down the numbers by race, homeless status, foster care status, and whether a student has a parent in the military. This data must be published on a public website each school year.
• Schools that use this funding are banned from punishing absent students with suspensions, fines, or bad grades. Instead, they must focus on supportive interventions like counseling, mentoring, and restorative justice strategies.
• Students of color, including American Indian, Black, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander students, are disproportionately affected by chronic absenteeism. The bill notes that immigration raids have worsened attendance problems among Latino students, especially younger children.