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This story is a combined effort of the Easton Gazette and the Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition; Jan Greenhawk and Darren Lombardo
In a joint meeting between MSDE and the Accountability and Implementation Board for the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, the problem of chronic absenteeism in Maryland schools was a topic for discussion.
Here is a map showing "chronic absenteeism" in the Maryland Public Schools:
The percent of chronic absenteeism runs from 16.8% in Frederick County to 48.7% in Baltimore City. The state average was 30% in 22-23. MSDE reminded everyone that absenteeism is a "lag indicator" which means statistics are generally a year behind.
The rest of the discussion among the group centered around the definition of "chronic absenteeism" which is missing 10% of school days a year. That means 18 days out of 180-day year. All absences, excused and unexcused, are included in a student's tally. MSDE also stated that the highest numbers of chronic absenteeism are among English Language Learners, African American Students, and Hispanic students.
Causes of absenteeism are not tracked statistically, but reasons such as illness, parental negligence, and this cute phrase; " unfortunate behaviors" were given. That last description means being out of school for extreme disruptive, violent actions or criminal activity." Their phrase, not ours. Of course, the standard "blame it on the pandemic" was also given.
MSDE ignored the fact that students will NOT attend schools if those schools are chaotic and filled with students who are violent bullies disrupting classrooms and hallways. They will not attend schools if they don't see the inherent value of an education versus what they can learn on the streets. They will not attend schools if our culture values instant wealth and fame over true accomplishment.
But, MSDE is "working" on it. In its presentation, the State said they are contracting with a group called "ATTENDANCE WORKS "to solve the problem of chronic absenteeism. From our investigation, ATTENDANCE WORKS have been in existence since 2014.
ATTENDANCE WORKS is a group that " collaborates with schools, districts, states, communities and organizations to ensure that everyone recognizes that chronic absence is a serious issue that can be addressed using a positive, problem-solving approach grounded in an understanding of educational inequities." They are a "project," not an actual organization, that works under a larger 501c3, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES. Here is the ATTENDANCE WORKS webpage:
You can find information about the group at their web page; who they are, what they do, who they work with, etc. On the outside, the group doesn't look bad. Obviously, we want students to attend school on a regular basis and many schools in Maryland have had a big problem with chronic absenteeism. MSDE was charged with fixing that problem. Here are the MSDE slides from the meeting which detail the problem:
According to the last slide above, there are many people/ groups working with ATTENDANCE WORKS and MSDE. But do these groups know who supports ATTENDANCE WORKS and its parent organization, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES? Doubtful since people rarely look at the donors and supporters of these groups.
When we went to ATTENDANCE WORKS page, we found this:
If you can't see it clearly, here is one name that stands out:
The Open Society Institute - Baltimore is associated with the "Open Society Foundation." Search this group and you will find this:
Yes, that is the infamous George Soros. If you want to check this out for yourself, go to this link:
Remember, Soros is banned from doing business in his own country of Hungary. Why? Probably for the same reason many in the United States want him banned here. Soros puts billions of dollars into getting progressive candidates elected, influencing elections, funding BLM and ANTIFA, funding groups who create disruptions in different countries, electing State's Attorneys, and promoting open borders.
Here are some of the causes he donates to:
Media Matters for America - Wikipedia
MoveOn: People-Powered Progress
Needless to say, Soros is to the progressive left what Elon Musk is to the right.
If you search Mr. Soros, you will find much information. Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal:
The Wall Street Journal Online - Featured Article
Here is a 2024 article asking why Soros is still allowed in our country:
https://1819news.com/news/item/allen-keller-why-is-george-soros-still-allowed-in-this-country
And MSDE is doing business with a group who has him as one of their main donors and supporters. Another name listed is the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation. Since that group isn't highlighted, they may not be active with ATTENDANCE WORKS currently.
ATTENDANCE WORKS appears to be a virtual project under a larger corporation, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES. COMMUNITY INITIATIVES is a 501c3 that made $59,967,249 in 2022 and $203 million since 2018. Here is their IRS report from 2022:
Facts in this report are the yearly salary of CEO Ruth Williams ($390,059) in 2022. The head of ATTENDANCE WORKS Executive Director and President Hedy Chang made $237,787 in the same year.
What is even MORE interesting in this report is the fact that COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, the umbrella group of ATTENDANCE WORKS, hides its donors in the IRS report:
Who and what are they hiding? Given the fixation on "oligarchs" influencing government agencies, one would think MSDE would be concerned about the participation of George Soros in this group.
We currently have a public information act request into the Maryland State Department of Education for "All contracts, grants, MOU's, partnership agreements, invoices, and purchase orders since 2014 with ATTENDANCE WORKS."
The problem of student attendance has been around for years. Many different approaches to solving the problem have been tried, bribing students, punishing parents, etc. None of them have worked. But, as someone I know once said, "The results are the objectives" meaning that schools are getting exactly the attendance rates they want and are making money off of it. Certainly, if ATTENDANCE WORKS has been involved in this issue since 2014, they have not made an impact on this problem.
As usual with the Maryland State Department of Education, they are very good at admiring a problem, ignoring the true cause, beating the problem to death in a committee, and then hiring an expensive "consultant" to help them admire the problem some more without solving it.
And the cycle continues.
More coming on this story!
