July 6, 2008
Fewer dropouts = dreams fulfilled
High schools must engage kids of all colors, incomes
By GLORIA SWEET-LOVE
and MICHAEL T.S. WOTORSON
Tennessee Voices
A close examination of high schools in the United States today will reveal a system very much in crisis.
Every year, approximately 1.2 million American students drop out of high school. In Tennessee, more than 22,000 students dropped out in 2007 and, unfortunately, the majority of those students were minority and low-income.
Across our nation, students of color are more likely to attend "dropout factories" — high schools where no more than 60 percent of the entering freshman class make it to their senior year three years later — than white students. In Tennessee, more than one in 10 of our 289 high schools are considered dropout factories.
Lest we forget, it is our high schools that are preparing tomorrow's leaders.
All of us pay a price when students drop out of high school. If the 22,000 high school dropouts from the Class of 2007 had instead earned their diplomas, Tennessee's economy would have seen an additional $5.7 billion in wages over these students' lifetimes, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, D.C.
In fact, researchers from the alliance have found that if high school dropouts who currently are heads of households in Tennessee had obtained their diplomas, the state economy would have benefited from an additional $2 billion in wealth accumulation by those families. Most striking is the fact that, if Tennessee raises the graduation rates of its minority students to the level of its white students by 2020, we could add an additional $1.5 billion to our state economy.
The evidence is crystal-clear, and the time to take action is now!
Too many of our high schools are failing to engage and develop young adults, especially students of color. However, if we join together and set ambitious state goals for education, and if we commit to raising the graduation rates of students of color, we can turn this crisis around.
Another civil rights milestone
We should never forget that in 1954 and again in 1957, Americans of all backgrounds eventually came together for one common purpose: providing unfettered and high-quality education to all students. We are on the precipice of another great challenge, and Tennesseans should face it boldly, together.
Today, as we grapple locally with this crisis, there exists a real opportunity to turn things around through federal policy. If properly modified to address the needs of high school students, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) could help our state increase its overall graduation rate and ensure that more young Tennesseans are adequately prepared for college and work. But while we wait for Congress to take action to improve NCLB, there are some things we can do locally.
For starters, we can all become more engaged in local and state efforts to improve graduation rates, like the Dropout Prevention Task Force headed by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. We can also insist our state policymakers make the Memphis Graduation Coach program a statewide and fully funded initiative.
These types of efforts, combined with preventive initiatives such as "early warning systems" to quickly identify students in danger of dropping out and helping to create individualized graduation plans that integrate mentors into a student's life, will help our young people graduate on time and be prepared for college, work and life.
America's youth in general and Tennessee youth in particular deserve a fair chance to succeed. With the right local efforts, we can give Tennessee's students that fighting chance and we can strengthen our nation.
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Gloria Sweet-Love is president of the Tennessee Conference of NAACP Branches; Michael T.S. Wotorson is director of the Campaign for High School Equity, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of national civil rights organizations representing communities of color.
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