As New York’s Department of Education tightens the screws on yeshivas, relentlessly scrutinizing their curricula, an alarming reality is being ignored: more than one-third of New York City public school students—over 300,000 children—are chronically absent. A new bombshell study reported by the NY Post has laid bare the crisis, revealing that chronic absenteeism—students missing at least 10% of the school year—has surged to nearly 35% in 2023-24. In upstate cities like Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, the numbers are even more catastrophic, with absenteeism reaching as high as 62%. Yet, while New York’s public schools hemorrhage students and produce mediocre test scores despite record-breaking funding, the state’s education watchdogs seem singularly obsessed with micromanaging yeshivas, institutions that boast high attendance and produce disciplined, engaged learners. New York spends more on education than any other state—$89 billion annually, or $36,293 per student—yet public school students are falling further behind. Test scores in reading and math remain below pre-pandemic levels, and graduation rates are slipping. The Department of Education, however, appears uninterested in why students are not even showing up to class. Instead, the state has made an astonishing move: it has eliminated chronic absenteeism as a measure of school quality. In other words, whether or not students attend school no longer factors into how districts are evaluated. One of the most shocking findings of the study is that absenteeism is not just a logistical issue—it is now culturally accepted. Post-pandemic, many parents have stopped seeing attendance as necessary. Teachers report that remote work has made it easier for families to keep kids at home on weekdays, and parents now believe missing non-testing grades “is not a big deal.” This shift in mentality has resulted in an educational catastrophe. Experts note that missing one or two days equates to 57 fewer days of learning, and missing 18 or more days equates to years of lost schooling Yet, rather than confronting this crisis, the state has opted for rewarding failure and punishing success. While New York’s public schools spiral into dysfunction, the state remains laser-focused on aggressively regulating yeshivas. These schools, which maintain excellent attendance rates, instill discipline, and produce literate, capable students, are being treated as the greatest threat to education in New York. Why does the state devote resources to harassing yeshivas while public school students vanish from their classrooms? (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)