Legislators: Don’t take the keys away just yet

Drive cautiously.

That’s our advice to South Carolina and Minnesota legislators, who are considering bills that would suspend the driver's licenses of teens who drop out of school.

At first blush, these bills seem to make a lot of sense: Students might think twice about leaving school if they’re worried that they won’t be able to drive. And with an on-time graduation rate of 72 percent in South Carolina, state leaders should use whatever tools they can to encourage students to make better choices.

Problem is, most students don’t really choose to drop out of school — not in the way that one might assume. In our work with dropouts across the country, we support young men and women who left school because they became parents and didn’t have suitable child care options, because they were sick and fell behind in their studies, because they were being bullied, and because they needed to work to support their families. These are, in many cases, individuals who can’t even afford a car to begin with.

The proposed bills do nothing to address these root causes of the nation's dropout epidemic. Rather, these piece of legislation could serve to make life harder for those who are already fighting an uphill battle. And if we’ve learned anything from the national debate surrounding the prospect of issuing drivers licences to illegal immigrants, it’s this: Just telling someone they can’t drive doesn’t mean they won’t drive. Do you really want more unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road? Are you ready to prosecute a teen-aged mother who is driving her baby to a doctor’s appointment?  

As advocates for an all-hands-on-deck approach to fighting the dropout epidemic, we applaud anyone who wants to do something to keep students in school. But we strongly urge state legislators to address the issues that are truly contributing to the nation’s pitiful graduation rate — by providing at-risk students the flexibility, accessibility and support they need to finish their studies.

Gregg Rosann and Rebekah Richards are co-founders of The American Academy, which works with school districts nationwide to re-enroll dropouts into school. For more information about The American Academy and its programs, visit NoDropouts.com