Who Has on Their Listening Ears?

Sharon Sedlar | March 27, 2026

If we were truly using our “listening ears”, we would hear what K–12 absenteeism rates are telling us. We would hear children telling us what’s missing, parents begging for help and more options, and teachers working diligently every day to control chaos while still trying to teach. We would hear the reasons students are leaving conventional education – not because they don’t value learning, but because rigid systems and one-size-fits-all policies no longer meet their needs.

We would hear the ongoing emotional, social, and academic aftermath of COVID – students who never fully reconnected, widening learning gaps, rising anxiety, and classrooms expected to absorb it all. We would hear families overwhelmed by complex systems, jargon, and gatekeeping, especially when seeking evaluations, IEPs, or meaningful interventions. We would hear how transportation barriers, digital inequities, inflexible schedules, and disciplinary systems push students out instead of pulling them back in.

We would hear the stories of children failed by an education system that is too slow to change, too constrained by bureaucracy, and too weakened by the push and pull of outside interests to function effectively. We would hear educators burning out under staffing shortages and mounting behavioral challenges, and we would hear trust eroding between families and schools as parents feel increasingly unheard.

And if we were really listening, we would hear jail doors closing on far too many who were left illiterate, disengaged, and unsupported long before adulthood. Absenteeism isn’t the problem – it’s the warning. It tells us, loudly and clearly, that too many children are not being served well, too many families asking for help get it far too late, and too many educators are being asked to carry what the system refuses to fix.

As decisions are being made that will shape our children’s futures, parents and caregivers must step up now. ‘See something, say something’ doesn’t apply just to K-12 buildings. It is also our call to action-not tomorrow, but today.