Maryland’s public schools are failing our kids, and it’s not just about test scores anymore. Chronic absenteeism has become the silent crisis nobody in Annapolis wants to talk about.
Before the pandemic, about 15% of students nationwide were missing 18 or more days of school. That number doubled during the shutdowns and even now—five years later—it’s stuck at nearly one in four students . In Maryland, our absentee rates are still well above where they were before 2020. And while states like Virginia and Alabama are clawing their way back to normal, Maryland isn’t moving fast enough .
Let’s be honest about what happened. During COVID, education bureaucrats handed out free passes—no-zero grading, endless test retakes, online credit recovery programs that rewarded logging into a laptop instead of showing up in class . Now those bad policies are still in place, teaching kids that attendance and accountability don’t matter. Researchers estimate that if attendance mattered as much as it used to, 100,000 fewer students nationwide would have graduated in 2022 . How many of those unprepared graduates were Maryland kids?
Passing students who don’t show up isn’t kindness—it’s malpractice. You can’t run a business this way, and you shouldn’t run a school system this way. If kids miss too much class, they need real consequences: summer school, repeating a grade, or targeted interventions . Pretending they’re ready for the next step only sets them up to fail later—and it cheats taxpayers who fund this broken system.
And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: school choice. States like New Hampshire are giving parents more flexibility through open enrollment . North Carolina is pushing for tax-credit scholarships . But in Maryland, politicians bow to the teachers’ unions and block even the smallest reforms. If families had the power to choose schools that worked for their kids, absenteeism wouldn’t be this bad. Parents would send their kids to schools where they feel safe, challenged, and engaged. Competition improves everything else in life—why not education?
Maryland taxpayers are shelling out billions for a system that refuses to demand accountability. Meanwhile, Governor Wes Moore and his Democratic allies keep pouring more money into a bucket full of holes. They won’t admit that attendance has collapsed, they won’t enforce real standards, and they won’t give families a way out.
Five years after the shutdowns, the pandemic excuse has expired. Chronic absenteeism is no longer about COVID—it’s about failed leadership. It’s about adults who refuse to tell kids the truth: you can’t learn if you don’t show up.
It’s time for Maryland to wake up. End the no-zero policies. End the social promotions. Give parents choices. And above all, put students—not the system—first.
Endnotes
- Jude Schwalbach, Funding Education Opportunity Newsletter, “Chronic absenteeism rates remain too high years after pandemic,” Aug. 27, 2025.
- Nat Malkus and Sam Hollon, American Enterprise Institute analysis, cited in The Washington Post, 2025.
- Ibid. Estimates show 100,000 fewer students should have graduated in 2022 if attendance standards held.
- Liz Cohen, 50CAN, quoted in The 74: Consequences such as retention or summer school should be imposed if attendance minimums are not met.
- Schwalbach, “Funding Education Opportunity Newsletter,” noting New Hampshire’s new within-district open enrollment law.
- Ibid., noting North Carolina’s veto of tax-credit scholarship legislation.
Carol Hughes is a contributor for Direct Line News. She can be reached at Carol.Hughes@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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