Report: Kids are heading back to school … or are they?

Washington state may tout many impressive numbers, but the latest attendance record is nothing to  boast.

CNBC says that Washington’s economy grew 3.7 percent in 2016, nearly two and a half times the national rate. And, Washington state has no income or corporate income tax, but wages and rent are among the highest in the United States. Just to name a few.

But when it comes to school attendance, Washington state came in second place to Alaska, for worst in the nation for chronic absenteeism.

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According to The Seattle Times, a new national report says 28 percent of Washington students are missing weeks worth of classwork every year. Attendance Works released the findings after analyzing federal data from the 2013-14 school year, the most recent full set available.

Though the numbers are four years old, education officials in Olympia do not dispute the gist: chronic absenteeism is a major problem in Washington and only recently has this come to light.

The reasons for chronic absence — which includes truancy, out-of-school suspensions and excused time away — range from bullying to health problems, transportation difficulties and the belief, particularly among parents of young students, that missing weeks of kindergarten won’t have much effect on future learning (46 percent of elementary schools report high or extremely high rates of absenteeism among all students).