California tallies middle school dropout rate for first time
California is the first state to acknowledge and tally up the dropout rate for middle schoolers in the state. New numbers released by the U.S. Department of Education for the 2010 graduation rates indicated that the dropout rate for eighth-graders going into high school was 3.49 percent, meaning that 17,257 students failed to go on to secondary school.
According to SFGate.com, the issue of middle school dropouts has been a dark secret of the education system for quite some time. “This tragic reality has been known for decades to researchers, but was largely hidden from the public,” writes Alan Bonsteel, President of California Parents for Educational Choice. “The San Francisco Unified School District, for example, showed in a 1991 study that 15 percent of district dropouts occurred before high school. What changed in California was the passage of Senate Bill 651 in 2009 mandating reform.”
California school officials say the middle school dropout rate can be attributed to a few factors like the difficulty for some transitioning from Spanish to English, students falling behind in reading skills by the third grade, and the fact that some families may need their children to leave school to help earn money for the household.
“That transition from middle school to high school is crucial,” state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson told the Los Angeles Times. “Those years are vulnerable years for many students, especially if a student loses hope, gets off track or falls behind.”
And unfortunately, falling off track or leaving the school system to help their family earn money can lead to permanent damage not only to the economic future of that particular student, but also some argue, to the nation’s overall economy.
“Most Americans now recognize that one of the reasons this recession has been far more stubborn than previous ones has been that more of the workforce lacks a high school diploma, and is therefore unemployable,” explained Bonsteel. “U.S. dropout rates declined until around 1985, and they worsened as our public schools deteriorated. The high school students of the 1980s are now in their 40s, and too many of those who should be in the prime of their careers are, instead, on welfare or in prison.”
When it comes to the high school dropout rate, the Department of Education reported that the figure reached 18.2 percent in 2010 for students that matriculated into high school in 2006.
