California Dropouts

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Editorial: Dropout problem gets some welcome attention

Published Thursday, February 28, 2008 in The Sacramento Bee
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B6


Incoming Senate President Pro Tem Darrell 
Steinberg, D-Sacramento, wants to make 
California's high school dropouts his top 
legislative priority, even in a tough budget 
year. Maybe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Year of 
Education" can be rescued after all.

The fact is, too many California ninth-graders 
don't make it through high school and graduate 
with a diploma. Here's one four-year snapshot: 
California had 520,000 ninth-graders in 2002-03, 
but only 349,000 actually graduated in 2005-06. 
Somewhere along the way, California high schools 
lost more than 170,000 students.

What happened to them? California doesn't know.

That has to change. A policy committee of the 
California Dropout Research Project, which 
includes Steinberg and Sacramento County 
Superintendent David Gordon, presented good ideas 
Wednesday. (See lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts.)

In a tight budget year, the main issue will be 
getting the information needed to track 
graduation rates accurately and improving accountability.

As Steinberg put it, "What doesn't count doesn't matter."

A big problem is that the current system (the 
Academic Performance Index) measures only test 
scores and not graduation rates. So high schools 
have an incentive to push students with lower 
test scores into alternative schools. The 
original school then has no responsibility for 
seeing that these students actually graduate.

Steinberg championed the successful Senate Bill 
219, which would include dropout and graduation 
rates in the API and assign the test scores of 
alternative school students to the original high 
school, holding that school accountable no matter 
where students are sent. That law takes effect in 
2011, when the state's data system is ready.

Now he's pressing Senate Bill 1251, which would 
add tracking of five- and six-year graduation 
rates to give schools an incentive to help 
students earn a diploma. (Some kids, especially 
English learners, may take longer than four years to graduate.)

The committee also wants to raise current graduation goals.

Schools are supposed to meet a graduation rate 
goal of 82.9 percent ? or show improvement of 
one-tenth of a percentage point per year. By that 
standard, a school with a graduation rate of 60 
percent could take more than 200 years to meet 
the state standard. That is unacceptable. 
Steinberg has introduced Senate Bill 1532, which 
would set more ambitious targets.

While the short-term budget picture is grim, by 
2010 the picture for education improves 
dramatically. The Proposition 98 constitutional 
funding guarantee will enlarge the base for 
education by about $5.9 billion in permanent, new 
funding. Now is the time to prepare for that infusion.

The committee has many long-term recommendations, 
but here's a key one: Put extra effort into 
reaching kids in the transition from elementary 
to middle school. Attendance, grades and behavior 
at that stage are a significant predictor of dropping out.

It's good to see that key players don't intend to 
let lean times derail an ambitious "Year of Education."


George Sheridan