by JCSprenger

Created on: June 09, 2009   Last Updated: June 11, 2009

Dropping Out of High School

Close to 3 million teens choose to drop out of high school every year, thus engrossing the ranks of the sub-employed population. There are, of course, notable exceptions among them, such as young people with remarkable business or artistic skills. But, as a whole, the damage done to them and to the country is enormous. It is my opinion as an educator that the public school system has failed in its mission to offer a meaningful free education tailored to every need and ability. School districts emphasize rightly so that a high school diploma can afford significant higher pay over a lifetime; there is however another aspect that the system fails to address: Every child has special needs, not just those with the special education label.

A special problem is found in one parent families: Half of Black children live in mother-only households, according to the Center for Educational Statistics (2006); the figure is 25% for Hispanic children, and 16% for White students. This factor must be taken into account when studying the causes of early drop-out rates for each ethnicity. Another important issue is the level of income: Many single mothers have to cope with two jobs to make ends meet, and cannot always rely on close relatives to watch over their young children; these are faced with an empty home when returning from school. Alcoholism and drug abuse are, of course, factors that also have a tremendous impact on the academic success or failure of children, but the main cause is found in the lack of effective counseling and support in the school environment.

When an 8th grader enters high school for the first time, he or she is usually processed very quickly due to the high number of new arrivals. They get their schedule, which is based on choices they made while in 8th grade, at least as far as electives are concerned. If they are labeled as special education students, they are referred to one specialized teacher who will oversee their progress, or lack thereof, during the next 4 years. But even these will not receive the attention they deserve as teachers simply don't have the time and/or the training to connect emotionally to a child who may be burdened with serious psychological baggage. Even the school counselors, whose position should indicate that they have the training and the time to actually counsel, complain that the enormous amount of paperwork precludes meaningful one-on-one relationships. Each counselor may be in charge of more

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