Meeting the dropout challenge
Robert Balfanz And John BridgelandGood news is rare these days. Home foreclosures, a credit crunch, and rising unemployment have sent ripples of fear through the American economy. Youth unemployment is approaching levels seen during the Great Depression. The nation could use a ray of hope, and progress is being made on one issue that deepens unemployment and poverty _ the high school dropout epidemic.
The landscape in our nation's public schools is now familiar. Each year, more than 1.2 million students do not graduate with their incoming freshman class. In many communities, dropping out from high school is as likely as graduating, often triggering unemployment, poverty, incarceration and single parenthood.
Fortunately, the nation is responding in large cities as well as rural communities.
This week, we will release a report examining progress in raising graduation rates in all 50 states. Some states and communities are graduating more students in the thousands, even as graduation requirements mount. Eight states have seen graduation rates increase by five or more percentage points. The percent of minority students attending high schools in which nearly all students graduate has doubled, and 300,000 fewer students across America attend high schools in which as many students drop out as graduate.
A growing number of elected officials believe attacking the dropout crisis should be one of their priorities. Both the governor of Colorado and the mayor of Philadelphia have pledged to cut the dropout rate in half during their terms in office, and dozens of other officials are showing similar leadership.
Now is the time for coordinated action at all levels. America's Promise Alliance is leading the charge with 105 "dropout summits" in all 50 states over the next few years. The alliance released a comprehensive guide on how communities can increase high school graduation rates by collecting accurate data, implementing school reform and community supports, and sustaining those efforts over time.
Governors will continue to play a critical role, as they build systems to track graduation rates, set ambitious graduation and college readiness goals, and raise compulsory school age laws with new supports for struggling students.
Congress should pass the Graduation Promise Act to improve or replace the 15 percent of high schools that produce over half of all dropouts, as well as the Serve America, Success in the Middle and Keeping Pace acts. The federal government will save $45 billion per high school class in extra tax revenues and lower costs when the dropout rate is cut in half among 20 year olds, representing critical savings as government costs mount for stimulus.
The perspectives of dropouts too give us hope _ most see the value of a high school diploma, are confident they could have graduated with the right supports, and long for a more engaging and challenging curriculum. Parents of students trapped in low-performing schools are the most likely to see the importance of a rigorous curriculum, and their own involvement, as critical to their child's academic success.
Our nation has finally woken up to its dropout challenge, and with youth unemployment soaring to new heights and an economy in deep recession, it is not a moment too soon.
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ABOUT THE WRITERS
Robert Balfanz, a research scientist at John Hopkins University, and John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises, are authors of numerous studies on high school dropout and co-authors of "Grad Nation: A Guidebook to Help Communities Tackle the Dropout Crisis." Readers may write to the authors at: Civic Enterprises LLC, 1828 L Street NW, 11th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036; Web site: www.civicenterprises.net; e-mail: bridge@civicenterprises.net.
This essay is available to McClatchy-Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.
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(c) 2009, Civic Enterprises
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