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When we fail our children, we fail ourselves. We fail our future.
Every child in San Antonio deserves the chance to read, learn and thrive — but too many are left behind. Fewer than half of San Antonio’s public school students are reading on grade level and more than one in four students are chronically absent, missing 10% or more of the school year, according to City Education Partners’ Nov. 11 Student Absenteeism Report.
These are not statistics — these are warnings.
A child who isn’t in school can’t learn. A child who can’t read will struggle to catch up. And a city that allows this cycle to continue is quietly surrendering the promise of its next generation. This is not a Northside or Southside problem. It’s not a district or charter problem. It’s our community’s problem and therefore everyone’s responsibility.
Across our city, 26% were chronically absent last year, missing about 18 days of learning. While average attendance rate has improved slightly, San Antonio and most of Texas haven’t regained pre-pandemic attendance.
The truth is stark: progress is uneven, and in some neighborhoods, chronic absenteeism is reaching crisis levels.
Children in City Council districts two, three, four, and five have both the highest chronic absenteeism and the lowest reading proficiency. Data shows that those districts have the highest concentration of poverty while research also supports that students in poverty are more likely to be chronically absent.
Attendance isn’t just about showing up for class. It’s about contributing factors like whether a child has a safe place to sleep, a reliable ride to school, and access to food and health care. It’s about whether a parent can take a morning off work to get their children to school without losing a paycheck. It’s about whether children feel welcome and supported at school or invisible.
“The habit of showing up is not just an academic skill. It is a life skill. A workforce skill. A future skill,” City Education Partners CEO Dalia Flores Contreras wrote in the organization’s absenteeism report. “When we help students build the habit of attendance, we are preparing them not just for graduation — but for careers, purpose, stability, and independence.”
Schools can’t solve chronic absenteeism alone. The causes run deeper — into our housing policies, transportation systems, and public health priorities. And the solutions must come from all of us: parents, teachers, employers, neighbors, elected officials, and leaders across every corner of San Antonio.
If San Antonio schools improved attendance by just 1%, research shows 1.5% more students could pass 3rd-grade reading. That’s about 2,250 more kids reading on grade level.
The good news is there are organizations working to tackle this issue.
Communities in Schools of San Antonio offers personalized support to students and their families to help them overcome attendance barriers. United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County provides direct support to students who have 10 or more unexcused absences through programming and counseling.
Futuro San Antonio, established as a bridge between parents, students and policymakers, has been convening families through deep canvassing efforts and listening circles where literacy and chronic absenteeism have emerged as top concerns, and where community members are hoping to inform policy solutions for city and county leaders to implement.
Clearly our community is ready to take on the root causes of absenteeism. But this moment will only matter if it becomes more than a policy response, such as increasing funding for comprehensive mental health support or providing students with free bus passes. It must become a community movement. If we want our children to show up for school, we must first show up for them.
The measure of any community is how it shows up for its children. This is our collective test and our shared opportunity. San Antonio’s future depends on whether we can come together to ensure every child is present, learning and thriving.
Because when San Antonio shows up for its kids, our kids will show up for school.
