D.C. police picked up more than 3,700 students for truancy in the first semester of a school year marked by new reforms. “The challenge is, how much does a student learn when he’s not in school?” D.C. Councilman Sekou Biddle, chairman of the Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy, told The Washington Examiner. “For us to have long-lasting, sustainable education reform, we’ve got to improve what’s going on inside classrooms, but also the number of students there to benefit from it.” Biddle said D.C. Public Schools reported that 13 percent of secondary school students had racked up 15 or more unexcused absences, earning them the school system’s “chronically truant” label.

A far greater number of students had skipped at least 10 days, Biddle said he learned in a meeting with D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.