OrlandoSentinel.com
How to keep kids in school?
Christine Armario
The Associated Press
January 13, 2009
CLEARWATER
Mary Jane Henry and her husband are college-educated professionals. She worked for years as a caseworker specializing in children with psychological disorders. He is a computer programmer.Despite their backgrounds and attentiveness to their children, two of their boys dropped out of high school, she said."He was always there, interacting with teachers, interacting with principals," Henry recalls of her husband. "All of those things were in place, and none of it motivated them to stay there."On Monday, Henry and her sons attended the statewide Dropout Prevention Summit hosted by the Florida Department of Education. For two days, parents, students, administrators and advocates will work together to brainstorm ideas to solve a dilemma families are facing nationwide: how to keep a child in school.Across the state, 2.6 percent of high-school students dropped out during the 2007-08 school year, according the state Department of Education. In many places, that figure is significantly higher.The impact is far-reaching: High-school graduates in Florida are twice as likely to be employed as those who don't finish school. Dropouts will likely earn less than their peers and are more likely to be incarcerated or need public assistance, according to figures from the Department of Education presented at the conference.At a time when Florida schools are facing the prospect of even deeper budget cuts, the need to combine resources with community leaders is paramount, several of the participants said."Students and their concerns don't go away because budgets decline," said Kimberly Davis, director of dropout prevention for the Education Department. "We have to still keep working and keep moving forward, but we've got to make sure that we're doing it efficiently."Florida often ranks low in national rankings of high-school graduation. The Quality Counts report released last week ranked the state 44th in the nation, with a graduation rate of 60.8 percent.State education officials say the graduation rate in the 2007-08 school year was actually 75.4 percent. Among other things, Florida includes students who earn general educational development diplomas, which are not counted by many national rankings.For three years, education leaders in Florida have been gathering for workshops on dropout prevention. But this is the first year that students, parents and business and community leaders have come together to develop an action plan, Davis said.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
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