Officials Propose Making All Kids ‘Stay In School’

I heard about this last week on WBUR, talk of helping students by keeping them in school.  I thought “well I guess this school official is not going to mention they keep more MONEY the more kids attend daily.”  To my surprise, the official then openly admitted that it was a great way for his institution to get more money!

Force young adults to stay in school in the name of “their welfare” -> increase the budget of your organization.  Someone explain to me how this is not a conflict of interest.

(There are good reasons for people to stay in school but a] someone who stands to gain money should recuse him or herself from this decision and b] School is actually *not the best option* for some 16 year olds; they should not be forced to stay in school because it would be better for someone else.)

Great and informed discussion on a very complex challenge of importance to everyone.

I’d suggest that the school systems look at support programs run by the Boys and Girls programs. The LAwrence B&G club has a 100% graduation rate + 100% post secondary attendance in each of the last 2 yeas ( and likely very similar for 2011) –in a city with the highest dropout rate in the state. They also have a virtually 0% teen pregnancy rate in a city with the highest rate in MA. I would expect similar successes in the B&G programs across the state ( maybe not the same number but marked and measurable differences from the school systems.

The problem is not simply a dropout age that retains the industrial and agrarian age model. As both Mr. Connelly and Jill made clear , this is a complex challenge ; certainly not a one size fits all approach.

Let’s hear more about this challenge.