High School Graduation

The NEA (National Education Association) posted an article a while ago about the why kids drop out of high school: http://www.nea.org/home/19351.htm

The realities of life without a diploma are truly abysmal and disturbing. The data itself should be alarming.

1. “According to estimates, about 30 percent of high school students drop out before graduation, meaning about one million students fail to graduate from high school every year.” The thought that one million kids drop out should stop every dead in their tracks. Many of them will be headed for poverty, struggle and jail. As about 80% of all inmates are high school drop outs. This is why across the board prisons keep growing. It’s also why the repeat offender rates are high, up to 60%. If they enter prison without education, they exit the same way. And now compounded with a jail term life gets more difficult.
2. “Only five in 10 Black and Hispanic students graduate on time with a standard diploma, and less than one-half of American Indian and Alaska Native students complete high school.” The fact that only half of Black and Hispanic students graduate with their high school class is stunning, but not news to the eductai0on community. If you teach, particularly in a poverty stricken area, you know this already.
3. “Studies show that each class of high school dropouts costs the nation more than $200 billion in lost wages and tax revenues, as well as spending for social support programs.” The welfare system is tied to high school drop out rates. It is also a source of debate and a leaking sieve in our economy.
4. “A 2006 study by Civic Enterprises shared dropouts' insights on why they left school before graduation. They cited a number of factors that would have kept them in school: enhancing the connection between school and work; providing real-world learning experiences; making school more relevant and engaging; and providing more help to struggling students.”

First of all, Civic Enterprises is an organization dedicated to providing initiatives to help solve the problems of our nation. That is noble. However, their data only focuses on the rate of dropouts, who is dropping out and then they interviewed dropouts about why they dropped out and drew some conclusions about how schools could be changed—based on the reasons provided by said dropouts.

Lets’ examine these reasons. First off, the group they interviewed said that they would have stayed in school if there had been a better connection between school and work. What work? The homework? So, it’s the teachers’ fault for not helping them find the relevance between classroom time and homework time. They also sited they didn’t feel like there was enough real-world experiences in high school and school should be more fun (relevant and engaging). These dropouts also think there should be more help for struggling students.

The reality is this: the kids who drop out are the ones who DON’T come to class in the first place. They already have a pattern of ditching with parents excusing their multitude of absences by the time they are freshmen. Not a single reason was placed at their feet or their parents’ feet. Every single factor that would have kept them in school was an EXTERNAL factor. Where is their own personal accountability and where the hell is the accountability from parents? There isn’t any. It’s this kind of liberal drivel that pushes school reforms and forces teachers to do not only their job, but that of the parents as well.  

There is a strange notion about what high school is supposed to be: an all encompassing system that trains young people for their life. The problem with dropout rates has as much to do with poverty, lack of leadership in the home, lack of parent modeling positive behavior. For example, they come to school yelling at staff in defense of their poor little 16 year old, who got his cell phone confiscated for texting during class, but NEVER show up on Back to School Night. What are you parents teaching your children? Nothing of value.

Teachers are taking the brunt of society’s burdens on their shoulders. They are the ones trying desperately to make it through each day, handling the disrespect of students and their parents, and their administration. Believe me, teachers don’t want kids to drop out or fail. They do want and need complete parent support and administrators to work with them not against them. Companies like Civic Enterprises are not in the field of education and have no business drawing conclusions, and the NEA is just a part of the bigger machinery of creating reasons to stay in the money draining reformation of education cycle.

Simone Santini

Author of Rotten Apples: Educational Insights