dropout opinion

"As local and state education officials move forward with plans to mitigate subpar high school graduation rates and ameliorate the viability of state two-year colleges, the two issues need to be considered as a single problem with a mutual solution," writes the Helena Independent-Record's editorial board.

When it comes to so-called "dropout factories,' writes high school teacher Sharon May, of Hurricane, Utah, "it seems to me, the question 'What’s wrong with America’s schools?' might be better rephrased, 'What’s wrong with America’s values?'"

A New York City summit hosted by television network NBC this week examined the state of education in America as government officials, educators and other sought solutions for a wide range of issues.

Most judges rush through arraignments as fast as possible. And with 24 alleged criminals on his docket, one Wednesday earlier this month, Taylor County, W.V., Circuit Court Judge Alan D. Moats could have been forgiven for doing the same.

A teacher at Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash. has been placed on administrative leave for distributing lyrics from the song "Commencement Day" by Seattle hip hop group Blue Scholars on the first day of school.

The song — ironically, a rap about censorship at school — rails against a system that fails to graduate so many students and praises those who make it to graduation day.

“It goes one for the student who refuses to submit

Each time our society allows a student to drop out from school, we enter into a contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in social services and potential incarceration costs.

So what if we could keep students in school for a mere $250 a year? 

Can our nation have both high academic expectations of its students and low dropout rates?

Writing on The Washington Post's Answer Sheet blog, Columbia University professor Justin Snyder makes a compelling argument that we can have our beef and eat it too.