Native American students miss school at higher rates. It only got worse during the pandemic

SAN CARLOS, Ariz. (AP) — After missing 40 days of school last year, Tommy Betom, 10, is on track this year for much better attendance. The importance of showing up has been stressed repeatedly at school — and at home. When he went to school last year, he often came home saying the teacher was picking on him and other kids were making fun of his clothes. But Tommy’s grandmother Ethel Marie Betom, who became one of his caregivers after his parents split, said she told him to choose his friends carefully and to behave in class. He needs to go to school for the sake of his future, she told him. “I didn’t have everything,” said Betom, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Tommy attends school…

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