Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 26, 2008)
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By Mr. HARKIN:
S. 3627. A bill to improve the calculation of, the reporting of, and the accountability for, secondary school graduation rates; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, this fall our Nation's high school graduation class of 2012 took their first steps into their local high school as freshmen. The best research based on data from all 50 states tells us that 1/3 of that class of freshmen will not walk across a stage and receive their diploma with their peers in four years.
Tragically we face a national high school drop out crisis. Every year an estimated 1.23 million students drop out of high school. To put that number in perspective, it is equivalent to the entire population of the ninth largest city in the country, Dallas.
What are the facts of the Nation's dropout epidemic? We know that if you are Black or Hispanic it's essentially a 50-50 chance that you will graduate in 4 years. This disparity exists even in my home State of Iowa, one of the best states in the Nation in terms of graduating kids in 4 years. According to data from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 58 percent of African-American students in Iowa graduate in 4 years--almost 30 points lower than white students--while the graduation rate for Hispanic students is only 54 percent.
Just as the data on racial and ethnic minorities paints a grim picture, a look into the Nation's graduation rates for students with disabilities shows many students continue to be failed by the system. The most recent data indicates that slightly more than half of all students with disabilities graduated from high school with a regular diploma. Those rates go down when examining different categories of students with disabilities. For instance, only 43 percent of students with emotional disturbances graduate from high school with a regular diploma. Bear in mind that many of these students do not have a learning disability, and with the proper supports and interventions they can achieve at the same levels expected of their non-disabled peers.
But these statistics may not even tell the full story. Too few States use a ``cohort rate,'' which tracks students from high school entrance through exit. Because of the flexibility in No Child Left Behind, many States choose to employ a method of calculation that produces inflated reports due to undercounting dropouts. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office first documented troubling and inconsistent trends in graduation rate reporting. Unfortunately, because we lack of uniform measure of graduation rates, hundreds of thousands of children are unaccounted for each year.
We owe it to these students to do a better job of tracking their progress towards graduation, and ensuring that they receive their high school diploma in 4 years. Census Bureau data shows there is a $9,000 discrepancy between the average income of a high school graduate and a high school dropout. In the middle of an economic crisis that is affecting American families' savings, an extra $9,000 would go a long way.
But looking beyond the individual impact, an education system that properly educates its young people and graduates them in 4 years provides economic security for the country. Research by Cecilia Rouse, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, shows that each drop out, over his or her lifetime, costs the Nation approximately $260,000. If more than 1 million students continue to dropout of high school each year, in 10 years that will amount to a cost of $3 trillion to our Nation.
Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. Today I introduce the Every Student Counts Act, legislation that directly addresses the nation's dropout crisis through the creation of one consistent graduation rate across all 50 states and by setting meaningful graduation rate goals and targets for schools, districts and States.
As we roll up our sleeves and get down to the serious business of solving the dropout crisis, we cannot waste our energy and our time arguing over whose data is correct. As I noted above, today we have 50 States with 50 different ways of measuring dropouts. In addition, we have many well-meaning education organizations with their own figures on high school graduation. It should be no surprise that they do not match up.
Take for example the difference in the graduation rates between those compiled by the independent Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, whose data is employed in Education Week's ``Diplomas Count'' annual report, and those currently reported by the States. While I think most would expect those rates to be relatively similar, they are not. In some States the difference between the two graduation rates is as much as 30 percentage points.
That is why the first thing the Every Student Count Act will do is make graduation rate calculations uniform and accurate. The bill requires that all States calculate their graduation rates in the same manner, allowing for more consistency and transparency. This bill will bring all 50 States together by requiring each State to report both a 4-year graduation rate and a cumulative graduation rate. A cumulative graduation rate will give parents a clear picture of how many students are graduating, while acknowledging that not all children will graduate in 4 years.
But agreement on one graduation rate is only half the battle here. Schools, school districts and States that are not already graduating a high number of students must be required to make annual progress to high graduation rates. The Every Student Counts Act sets a graduation rate goal of 90 percent for all students and disadvantaged populations. Schools, districts and States with graduation rates below 90 percent, in the aggregate or for any subgroup, will be required to increase their graduation rates an average of 3 percentage points per year in order to make adequate yearly progress required under the No Child Left Behind Law.
Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to thank the growing list of organizations representing the interests of children across the country who have signed on to support the Every Student Counts Act. Specifically, I recognize the Alliance for Excellent Education and their President, former Governor of West Virginia Bob Wise, who have been champions in the movement to improve our high schools and turn back the dropout crisis.
I would also like to recognize the work of my colleague in the House, Representative BOBBY SCOTT of Virginia, who is the chief sponsor of the companion to this legislation and has long championed education for disadvantaged young people.
We have no more urgent educational challenge than bringing down the dropout rate, especially for minorities and children with disabilities. For reasons we all understand--poverty, poor nutrition, broken homes, disadvantaged childhoods--not all of our students come to school every day ready to learn. In some cases, it's as though they have been set up to fail. They grow frustrated. They drop out. As a result, they face a lifetime of fewer opportunities and lower earnings. Economically, our Nation cannot afford to lose one million students each year. Morally, we cannot allow children to continue to fall through the cracks. I believe the Every Student Counts Act puts us on the right track towards turning back the tide of high school dropouts and I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
September 26, 2008.
Senator TOM HARKIN,
Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
DEAR SENATOR HARKIN: We, the undersigned education, civil rights, and advocacy organizations thank you for introducing the Every Student Counts Act to ensure meaningful accountability for the graduation rates of our nation's students. As you know, educators and policymakers at all levels of government agree that change is necessary on this issue.
Only 70 percent of our nation's students graduate with a regular diploma. Worse, just over half of black and Hispanic students graduate on time. Special education students also have graduation rates of just over 50 percent. Such poor graduation rates are untenable in a global economy that demands an educated workforce. According to the Department of Labor, 90 percent of the fastest-growing and best-paying jobs in the United States require at least some postsecondary education. It is imperative that the nation's schools prepare their students to succeed in the twenty-first-century workforce.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has focused the nation's attention on the unacceptable achievement gap and the need to improve outcomes for all students, particularly those of minority students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. However, NCLB does not place enough importance on graduating the nation's high school students. Furthermore, current federal policy on graduation rates permits the use of inconsistent and misleading graduation rate calculations that overestimate graduation rates, does not require meaningful increases in graduation rates over time, and does not require the graduation rates of student subgroups to increase as part of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations.
As a response, the Secretary of Education has created proposed regulations to address these concerns. Although the proposed regulations are a laudable step in the right direction, we believe that the Every Student Counts Act is a better approach to ensuring that all students are treated equally in calculating graduation rates and for accountability purposes.
The Every Student Counts Act would do the following: require a consistent and accurate calculation of graduation rates across all fifty states to ensure comparability and transparency; require that graduation rate calculations be disaggregated for both accountability and reporting purposes to ensure that school improvement activities focus on all students and close achievement gaps; ensure that graduation rates and test scores are treated equally in AYP determinations; require aggressive, attainable, and uniform annual growth requirements as part of AYP to ensure consistent increases in graduation rates for all students; recognize that some small numbers of students take longer than four years to graduate and give credit to schools, school districts and states for graduating those students while maintaining the primacy of graduating the great preponderance of all students in four years; and provide incentives for schools, districts and states to create programs to serve students who have already dropped out and are over-age and undercredited.
Again, we thank you for introducing the Every Student Counts Act and for your leadership on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
Alliance for Excellent Education.
American Foundation for the Blind.
Association of University Center on Disabilities
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
Council for Learning Disabilities
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Easter Seals
First Focus
GLSEN--the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
Helen Keller National Center
Higher Education Consortium for Special Education
Learning Disabilities Association of America
League of United Latin American Citizens
Knowledge Alliance
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc.
National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness
National Collaboration for Youth
National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform
Project GRAD
Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
The Advocacy Institute
The Arc of the U.S.
United Cerebral Palsy
United Way of America
YouthBuild USA
Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
Joan L. Benson, President & CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
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