Charlotte Post: Hagan sponsors dropout prevention bill

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By Sommer Brokaw

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is co-sponsoring a bill that would fund high school dropout prevention programs.

On June 30, Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat and member of the Senate Education Committee, introduced the Secondary School Reform Act with colleague Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Hagan said this is a pivotal year for re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, better known as No Child Left Behind, which is four years overdue. She is working along with Whitehouse and to include the SSRA in the reauthorization of NCLB.

"The reason we're introducing this bill is to combat one of the greatest threats to our country's future economic prosperity, and that's the student dropout crisis that we see today, and the urgent need to reform our secondary schools," Hagan said. "Every school day, almost 7,000 American students become dropouts. That translates into nearly one out of four American high school students not graduating on time and putting the U.S. 18 out of 26 industrialized countries in the proportion of students who graduate from high school.

"That translates into about 1.2 million students per year. And when you look at minority students the graduation rates are even worse. Only about 54 percent of American Indian students, and 57 percent of African-American students, and 58 percent of Latino students actually graduate on time."

North Carolina's 72.8 percent graduation rate is better than the national average of 71.7 percent, according to Education Week's most recent "Diplomas Count" report.

Hagan estimates SSRA would cost $300 million to implement.

She said that the legislation if enacted would support the implementation of evidence-based reform models in targeted schools such as the early college program that North Carolina has where students simultaneously earn high school and college credit.

Hagan added that it would create a grant program where high needs school districts partner with external organizations such as nonprofits and institutions of higher learning to compete for funds to implement effective school reforms.

The grant program would target low-performing Title I eligible high schools with graduation rates below 75 percent as well as feeder middle schools. The grants would be available through a competitive process.

Another bill, the School Turnaround And Rewards Bill, which Hagan also introduced, is directly targeted at the bottom 5 percent schools, often called "dropout factories."

The latest annual report on school dropout events and rates shows that the dropout rate in grades 9-12 in North Carolina is 3.75 percent. High schools reported 16,804 dropouts last school year, and blacks still had a higher dropout rate than the state average.

"In North Carolina, we understand that our economic strength is dependent on a well-educated, highly skilled workforce ready to compete in our global marketplace," Hagan said. "Simply put, if you don't have a high school diploma you are going to earn lower wages and obviously have fewer opportunities. The average annual income for a high school dropout is over $9,000 less than a student who has graduated from high school. And I just cannot, and we should not allow this disastrous trend to continue."

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