🎤 As a former teacher and Education Committee Chair, I believe deeply in rigorous instruction, strong curricula, meaningful professional learning and giving educators the resources they need to help every child succeed. But quality instruction and attendance both matter. We cannot have a serious conversation about academic achievement while treating chronic absenteeism as a footnote. Consider that nearly half of NYC students in temporary housing were chronically absent last year, including 63% of students living in shelter. Fifty-five percent of students in foster care were chronically absent. Those numbers should command our attention. A child navigating homelessness, an unexpected move, foster care placement, economic insecurity, trauma, transportation challenges, an unmet IEP mandate or another barrier to learning does not leave those realities at the schoolhouse door. Our responsibility is not to lower expectations. It is to remove barriers so every child has a fair opportunity to meet them. That means excellent instruction, strong instructional materials and professional learning for educators, but also counselors, social workers, psychologists, mental-health supports, related service providers, family partnerships and community-based programs that help children get to school, stay connected to school and thrive there. That is why I have always believed so strongly in the community school model. Ultimately, I believe every school should be a community school, a place equipped to support the whole child, the whole family and the educators who serve them. Academic excellence and caring for the whole child are not competing ideas. They are inseparable.