A better way of studying, and fixing, dropout problem
Dropout rates have a direct correlation to juvenile crime, so it stands to reason that keeping kids in school helps to keep our streets safe. And if that's the case, few parts of California stand to benefit from effective stay-in-school programs more than Kern County, one of four Central Valley counties with dropout rates higher than the state average of 18.9 percent. And based on 2007-08 data from the California Department of Education, Kern County's dropout rate is the highest, at 26.9 percent.
It's hard to precisely quantify the real-world cost of the dropout problem, in terms of juvenile crime, but the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara has tried. Researchers' best guess: $1.1 billion per year.
The ongoing problem not only takes a huge chunk out of the state economy, it also threatens public safety, the researchers maintain. Scores of law enforcement officials statewide agree, including Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, Delano Police Chief Mark DeRosia and Arvin Police Chief Tommy Tunson. They're urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign SB 651.
SB 651, co-authored by state Sen. Gloria Romero, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Education, and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would require an annual report highlighting early warning indicators of students at high risk of dropping out of school.
"California once led the nation in high school graduates. Now we lead the nation in dropouts," Romero said. "This is an unconscionable situation for our students and unsustainable for the future economic vitality of the state."
About one out of five students never graduates from high school, but among some student groups, including Latinos, African Americans, English learners and special education students, it's even worse. Dropouts are more likely to commit a crime, be incarcerated and require public assistance at some point in their lives. For every 120,000 dropouts, California loses $46.4 billion over the lifetime of those individuals.
The cost seems quite clear. What solution does SB 651 provide? For one thing, it will help unify the fragmented and inconsistent methods of reporting dropout rates that have hindered the state's ability to get an accurate handle on how our schools are truly faring. Does it specify one statewide formula for determining dropout rates? No, and that is a shortcoming of the bill. But SB 651 is a vast improvement over the hole-riddled system we have now.
Building on California's new longitudinal student information system called CALPADS, which collects data about student progress toward graduation, the bill, once signed, will provide early warning indicators of students at high risk of dropping out; more accurate dropout rates; and require a new method of calculating dropouts for certain alternative schools.
SB 651 would also implement legislation (SB 219, passed two years ago) to discourage schools from "pushing out" struggling students in order to boost school test scores.
At a time when the Legislature is attempting to deal (futilely, for the most part) with overcrowded, underfunded state prisons, SB 651 represents the sort of proactive solution to dead-end lives and career crime that California should have debated long ago.
