Why is attendance so important? If a person attends, it is a sign that they are professional and care about their education. However, if a student is chronically late or absent, their educational career is damaged. I would call attendance a necessity for academic achievement. In fact, some people even live by the philosophy, “If you’re not five minutes early, you’re late.” 

In the Anchorage School District, attendance is one of the most important elements to keep track of productivity. I do not think that attending class 90 percent of the time will guarantee a great education. This plan is unrealistic; there are too many unseen variables. It is a good thing to strive for, but I think the highest attendance rate that will be reached is 80 percent due to the sheer amount of people in the Anchorage School District. They need to get all the teachers to participate and make it nearly impossible to miss school. Every teacher should post homework, and the things they did in class, online. 

A big part of getting to school is having the proper motivation. However if a student becomes ill they should not attend school because they might put others at risk. By enforcing good attendance at a young age they are making it easier for students to succeed later in life.

— Darryl Skadsem student at University of Alaska 

Anchorage