Any reforms to the state prison system would be magnified if Michigan could also deal with its high school drop-out epidemic.
Reams of research show that drop-outs are much more likely to end up in either poverty or prison. Some 21,000 students (about 15 percent) dropped out of Michigan high schools in 2007 and dropped into a Michigan economy with few or no opportunities for them.
The Michigan Education Association recently gained the perspective of more than 500 students, parents, and experts in a statewide series of hearings about the dropout problem. The hearings captured many examples of local educators and approaches who are holding their own against the dropout problem. The hearings also vividly illustrated how much more work needs to be done as early as pre-school to assure students complete their education.
Click for a written summary or a video summary of the MEA hearings.
2 Comments
The discussion of high school dropouts, and the costs associated with them, usually omits an essential element of any long-term solution. We know which children are in trouble as learners, and likely to drop out of school, as early as third grade.
There is a wide acknowledgement that we should do more to support early childhood development, and some efforts to address the needs of young students in our schools, but overall there have not been significant efforts to systematicly identify and prevent early learning failure in Michigan schools, or around the country.
One positive note on this point is the recent passage of SAVE legislation sponsored by Senator Nancy Cassis and expected to be signed by the Governor. This allows Intermediate School Districts to spend general fund revenue to develop model sites of early learning success. I only hope they do, and that they lead the way to a real solution to graduation rates and prison costs.
The number one goal of Michigan and DPS K-12 education should be NO DROPOUTS. Every student should stay in school and graduate from high school.
Overcome obstacles of:
* bad school administration
* bad teachers
* don’t care parent or parents
The second goal should be that all students should get good grades As and Bs and pass the SATs to qualify for college.
* Assign big brothers, big sisters, mentors to every problem student.