We’ve learned a few of the complicated reasons students don’t come to school. And we’ve heard how MPS is working with community partners to bump its attendance up from 89 percent to this year’s goal of 95 percent. Some of the toughest work getting kids to class falls to the adults in their lives – especially parents and school advisors. As the school year comes to an end, those folks are still coordinating efforts.

It’s just after seven o’clock on a Thursday morning at Milwaukee’s Rogers Street Academy. Eight young adults, ranging in age from 18 to 24, line the hallways. Their cheers welcome students for another day of class. “G-O-O-D-M-O-R-N-I-N-G, good morning! Good morning!” they chant. Smiling among the group’s ranks is Ebony Kirkendoll. She says the task becomes easier as the year progresses.

Since the early 1990s, MPS has partnered with the Milwaukee Police Department and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee to run an initiative called TABS. It stands for “Truancy Abatement and Burglary Suppression.”

The year was 2011. The truancy rate in New York City public schools had hit 20 percent. District leaders decided to try something new and simple: calling the kids who weren’t showing up. They called their campaign "WakeUp! NYC." Students who had missed at least 10 days of class were signed up to receive daily voicemail messages. But rather than using familiar voices like a teacher, they enlisted the help of big names that kids would recognize, such as NBA great Magic Johnson, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and chart-topping singer Trey Songz.

The word ‘truancy’ has one, clear definition: "the act or condition of being absent without permission." Some refer to it as ‘playing hooky.’ It’s also called absenteeism. Whichever way you spin it, it means you’re not showing up for classes. When Dexter Weaver was a kid, as far as school was concerned, truancy was a four-letter-word.