An important aspect of students' access to education is the amount of time actually spent in the classroom. This brief highlights data on the student absentee rate for 1990-91. The data were extracted from "The Condition of Education, 1995," U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. Findings indicate that in 1991, the student absentee rate increased with school level and was generally greater in public central city schools. An average of 8 percent of the students in public high schools were absent on a typical day; the average was 12 percent for central-city high schools. Second, 44 percent of central-city public high school teachers reported that student absenteeism was a serious problem in their schools. Third, public high schools with more than 40 percent of their students eligible for free or reduced lunches had a higher absentee rate (10 percent) than those with lower percentages of eligible students, which had absentee rates of 7 to 8 percent. Fourth, in central-city public high schools with more than 40 percent of the students eligible for free or reduced lunches, 55 percent of the teachers thought that absenteeism was a serious problem in their school, and 49 percent thought that tardiness was a serious problem. Thirty-six percent considered cutting class a serious problem. Two tables and three figures are included. (LMI)