The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare.
The article does mention more than just behaviour that could be attributed to laziness.
Across the country, students are staying home when sick, not only with Covid-19, but also with more routine colds and viruses.
And more students are struggling with their mental health, one reason for increased absenteeism in Mason, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Cincinnati, said Tracey Carson, a district spokeswoman. Because many parents can work remotely, their children can also stay home.
I think this should be seen as an overall positive. If kids stay home when sick then they wouldn’t spread that sickness as easily to other students/teachers. And ideally less kids being sick would mean an overall increase in attendance.
But our schools need to be better about handling sick days. For instance, in California, public school funding is based on attendance. It doesn’t matter if the absence was excused or not.
This incentivizes schools to work on attendance but it also has the effect of pushing students to come to school even if they are sick. There’s a limit to how many excused sick days you can have before they start requiring doctor’s notes.