Teacher absenteeism is a growing problem, according to this short guide on reducing absenteeism. The author briefly reviews the research data on absenteeism from national, state, and district sources. She lists the average costs of teacher substitution by district size and the characteristics of both districts and teachers with bad absence records. She then discusses the "absentee culture," identified and described by researchers on U.S. society, and outlines symptoms of the absentee culture at the board and administrative levels and among teachers and staff. To handle absenteeism and the absentee culture, the author suggests 17 strategies for school boards, central district offices, principals, and supervisors. Among the strategies are incentives for good attendance, unlimited sick leave accumulation, attendance requirements for tenure, centralized absence records, publication of attendance data, investigation of chronic absenteeism, and requirements that teachers asking for sick leave call the principal or supervisor personally. (RW)