Public schools can be considered a form of workforce development, and thus it is important to measure the "work product" of the schools. The Public Policy Forum's annual analysis of public schools in the 50 districts serving southeastern Wisconsin measured absenteeism as educational opportunities lost because children were not in class. Considering that the 318,000 students enrolled in the region's public schools are future employees, the measurement is seen as an indicator of lost productivity in today's schools, and potentially in future workplaces. The analysis found that the region's students missed 3.6 million days of school for the 2004-2005 school year, representing 6.5% of all school days. This is an improvement over the past five years, especially in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district, where absenteeism dropped nearly 2 percentage points. Findings help to explain a gap between the southeast region and the state overall when it comes to outcomes as measured by standardized tests: at every grade level and in every subject, average scores in southeastern Wisconsin were lower than the state average. Other findings include: (1) The region's dependence on property taxes decreased while reliance on state aid increased; (2) Per-pupil spending in the region increased; (3) During the past two years minority enrollment in the three largest school districts has increased; (4) Productivity lost to absenteeism, expulsions, suspensions and truancies fell over the last five years; (5) For the third consecutive year, fewer schools than the year before, in both the region and MPS, were classified as "in need of improvement"; and (6) ACT composite scores remained unchanged this year. (Contains 18 tables.) [Funding for this project was provided by Multiple Listing Services; Marquette University; GE Healthcare; Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson, Inc.; and Northwestern Mutual Foundation.]