Nearly a quarter of Louisiana students missed 10% or more of school days last year, placing the state just below the national average for chronic absenteeism, according to a report by the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.
State data put Louisiana’s chronic absenteeism rate at 22.5% for the 2023-24 school year, data from FutureEd shows. That figure tracks students who are enrolled at least 10 days but are absent — for any reason — at least 1/10th of the time, a standard set by the federal education department.
Louisiana fares slightly better than the nation overall, where the average is 23%, but worse than neighboring Alabama (14.8%) and Oklahoma (19%). Mississippi’s rate was slightly higher at 24.4%, while Florida’s surged to 31.4%. Alaska reported the highest chronic absenteeism rate nationwide at 43.4%.
