Dropping Out and Giving Up on the ‘American Dream’

One of the contentious issues in education is how to measure the drop out rate. There are no standard measures. For example, if a teenager decides to fore-go school and not register in an educational system, that person is not a part of the data set. With families being mobile and children changing schools, it is difficult to distinguish which students have moved and which students have given up on their formal education.

There is some agreement that the reported data in most reports are a snapshot of a system that reflects low numbers. The actual number of people opting out of the school system may be much higher.

With that in mind, the recent report from the California Department of Education is chilling:

“…The dropout report, released Wednesday by the California Department of Education, estimated that one in four high school students - 24.2 percent - failed to graduate with their classes or move into another educational program to continue their high school education. The estimates were derived from data from the 2006-07 school year.

By contrast, the state claimed a 13.9 percent four-year dropout rate for the prior year.”

link: One of every four California students drops out

Even if this upward trend peaks at this estimate, it is a forecast of economic trouble in the near future. Industries will have a difficult time filling positions. AT&T recently reported difficulty filling customer service jobs. And the drain on the future social services network will be enormous. The system is strained already.

Perhaps what is most disturbing about Department of Education report is that so many teenagers are giving up on the ‘American Dream’, at such an early age. And how many stay in school and have “left” psychologically?

The drop out rate is not a reflection of the intellectual abilities of these teenagers. It is a statement of how we, as adults, are failing - and failing miserably.

Catherine Forsythe