5/2 - Nicole D'Antonio, CMG Washington

Jacksonville's Morning News Interviews

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE - School attendance is key for a child's success. While the Secretary of Education was on Capitol Hill this week, he addressed chronic absenteeism in our schools. This has been an ongoing concern since the pandemic. Nationally, the percentage of students missing 10 days of school or more surged from 15% in 2018 to 28% in 2022, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Secretary Cardona told lawmakers the money from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is going to address this, as well as increasing the number of mental health services at schools. There will be a bipartisan meeting at the White House this month.