Does anybody else find this alarming? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4505682.html One-third of students in Texas don't graduate Associated Press TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW AUSTIN — One out of three Texas students don't graduate, and more students drop out than finish high school in the state's largest cities, according to education experts. Statewide, more than 2.5 million students have dropped out of Texas high schools in the last 20 years, and each graduating class loses about 120,000 students from freshman year to senior year, according to the San Antonio-based Intercultural Development Research Association. The research group says more than half of students in Texas' largest cities drop out. The dropout rate among blacks, Hispanics and low-income students is about 60 percent, according to the Center for Education at Rice University. The statewide dropout rate is about 33 percent — or 20 points higher than what the Texas Education Agency reports. Experts warn that the high dropout rate will lead to economic and social problems. "If you live in a city like Dallas or Houston and half of your kids are not finishing high school, it's a social crisis," said Eileen Coppola, a researcher at Rice. Dropouts are more likely to live in poverty, have health problems and end up in jail, Coppola said. Dropouts on average earn about $9,200 per year less than high school graduates, said Frances Deviney, director for Texas Kids Count. That means dropouts give up about $900 million per year in wages. The 2.5 million dropouts over the last 20 years represent $730 billion in lost revenue and costs for the state, Deviney said, citing a report from the research association. "We have a huge problem," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said. Last year, with the prodding of Dewhurst and state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, the state spent $275 per high school student for dropout prevention and college preparation programs. But critics say the program is "not targeted for communities with the greatest need," said Albert Cortez, a director at the research association. Dewhurst said he agrees that a more targeted effort is needed and plans to make it a priority during the legislative session. "I want to focus on programs at your high-risk schools," Dewhurst said. "How do we keep those at-risk kids in school?" What kind of future do these kids have? It's not like twenty years ago when these kids could get a job in a factory. Even today to get a job in a petro chemical plant most companies want at least an associates degree or work experience. This problem is something that needs to be dealt with or we are going to be paying for it for generations.
You'd think if they included a sentence like this, they'd bother to explain why this research shows such a difference. As is, given the choice between TEA (who has all the actual data) and a research organization, I'd believe the TEA without more evidence of such a gap.
So there are people dropping out of high school, and those people tend not to do as well as people that continue their education? Color me shocked.
I don't find it alarming because I'm not the least bit surprised. Texas has had woefully underfunded schools for as long as I can remember. We miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal matching grants, grants that one could argue are our own tax dollars coming back to the state, due to incompetence in the Legislature, their leadership, the Governor and Lt. Governor, and the other statewide elected officials, with a few rare exceptions. And Texans keep electing them, regardless of the idiotic actions they foist on our state, and on us, time and time again. That would make the majority of voters in Texas idiots as well. A real pity that Texas has come to this pass. Embarrassing. D&D. Texas is Broken.
Of all the places that I have lived, Texas has the worst schools. They do absolutely nothing to help the kids that have problems. They just push them through instead of trying to fix the problems. While I do blame the administrators, I also realize that they only have so much to work with. I just feel that it is a shame that we have to spend a $1000 a month for tutoring to make sure that my son has everything that he needs to really be where he needs to be. I wish that I had custody just so that I could put him in private school.
This is not intended as anything racist, but what is the racial breakdown of those high school dropouts? When I worked at a restaurant, the entire kitchen staff was Mexican and often I would se 15 or 16 year old Mexican boys there working the night shift or afternoon shift. Some were legal and some were illegal. I understood that even though they were legal, most of them had illegal immigrant relatives that they had to help out with and as a result, the teens were working instead of going to school. I know it can be a prett desparate situation when the family is struggling to pay rent and put food on the table so I'm not going to condemn anyone for their decisions. Just curious on the racial breakdown.
Sorry, but I find blaming anybody but the kids who dropped out is a copout. True, my statement is from somebody that pulled himself out of the depths of hell without help...me. RR
Sorry, RR, but I find anyone who is a parent that places the blame for their children dropping out of school on the child itself to be delusional. And being the son of Depression era parents, parents who sacrificed to give us the standard of living they hadn't experienced growing up, a father who worked 3 to 4 jobs while going to a university on the GI Bill, while my mother stayed home with my sister and I, with my Dad ultimately becoming a department chair for 3 decades as he traveled the world doing consulting in his "spare time," leaves me thinking that had I attempted dropping out of school, after getting my ass kicked from here to Sunday, I would have had my butt glued to a chair and carried from class to class, had that been necessary, before they have would allowed that to happen. Blame the kids? Better to blame a ****ty school system, in far to many areas of the state, and a state government who cares more about dishing the pork than making sure "no child is left behind." With all due respect, saving a few exceptions, it is the kid dropping out who has the least amount of responsibility. In my opinion. Your argument is merely one in a host of excuses blaming the children for the failures of their parents, the local school districts, the state government, and the Federal government, now that they are trying to poke their nose into public education on the local level. D&D. School, Learning, a Social Concious, and a Good Living are not Mutually Exclusion.
You can find all sorts of details here: http://centerforeducation.rice.edu/Research/dc/CRPdropout2006.pdf
Deckard (btw, most favorite flick), okay, you got me on the Parent's responsibility. I wasn't thinking about them. I was responding to, as an example, the second part of your post. There has been way, way, waaaay too many people that succeeded under far worse conditions...far worse. And we're not talking about kids but young adults who absolutely know what the ramifications are of dropping out of school. RR
One-third of students in Texas don't graduate Can someone tell me where the 8 Billion Dollars toward Texas education is going? Sincerely Tx Lotto Please that is 8 BILLION dollars not millions....
You can't force these kids to go to school. Most of them would rather just hang out on the street corners being thugs and have 5 or 6 kids.
What gets to me is how some kids from other countries would kill for a chance to go to school here and get an education in the states. Getting an education here can give someone the potential to give them so much in life yet we have people here that already have the opportunity and the government still have to practically beg them to stay in school.
I found that amazing, surprising, but amazing none the less...With the prpoer reinforcments, you can force these brats to stay in school...The problem is, I assume no one cares at home...
