Teacher Absenteeism: Challenges to Public Education Policies

Abstract

The article describes the phenomenon of absenteeism among municipal teachers in the city of São Paulo and seeks to understand how education professionals view teacher nonattendance and organize to face this problem in schools. Based on a bibliographic review, a statistical descriptive analysis was conducted with variables related to public servant absences and the profile of professionals in the teacher workforce. In addition, the results collected through interviews in twenty school units were analyzed. The study recommends for improvements to be outlined in teachers’ working conditions, aiming particularly to reduce the excessive number of students per classroom, raise wage levels in order to prevent accumulation of positions, and invest in the teaching career so as to make it more attractive.