STATE SHOULD EMBRACE SPECIAL DROPOUT SCHOOLS
Alternative centers in Oakland and Wayne counties give at-risk
students a second chance
Alternative schools in Oakland and Wayne counties are showing success in rescuing and graduating dropouts, students who have washed out of traditional public schools.
The innovative approach treats older students more as adults than adolescents, and addresses the individual problems that caused them to fail or lose interest in school. Michigan needs more programs like this.
They fill needs highlighted by a study chaired by Lt. Gov. John Cherry.
"An unacceptable number of young adults in Michigan drop out of high school, leaving them woefully unprepared to navigate today's economy, let alone the economy of tomorrow," notes the Cherry Commission report.
Unfortunately, the dropout schools, because they are charter schools, are running up against the education establishment's knee-jerk opposition to charters.
Though the need is great, the state limits the number of special schools to serve dropouts.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm instead wants to raise the dropout age to 18 from 16, forcing students to stay in schools where they are failing, at taxpayer expense and with no guarantee of graduation.
Alternative approaches are needed. Examples include charter schools like the ones run by Ohio-based White Hat Management, which operates 38 schools around the country. Among those schools are 23 "LifeSkills Centers" that enroll at-risk and dropout youths ages 16 to 22. One of the 23 centers serves Oakland County students, and another is in Detroit.
The students work toward a genuine high school diploma, not a GED or other watered-down certificate. They orient themselves toward the adult world of work -- they must hold a job for 90 consecutive days prior to graduation.
Many students find the approach more attractive than just sitting in traditional classes all day.
White Hat schools are charter schools. And in Michigan, that means they operate under an arbitrary limit on growth imposed by lawmakers.
Critics of such schools often argue that they steal resources from public schools.
But White Hat's students have already dropped out, so the public schools aren't getting their per-pupil aid. And dropouts aren't likely to be considered the cream of the crop.
Allowing the White Hat schools to save as many dropouts as possible makes sense. The company gives second chances to students who have fallen though the cracks in the regular public education system and face a limited future.
Michigan can't say for sure how many dropouts it has. But credible national studies suggest that only 65 percent to 73 percent of ninth graders graduate from high school in four years, according to the Cherry Commission.
That defines the scope of the problem. And now it's time for lawmakers to act.
Lift the cap on charters to allow White Hat and other enterprises to attack the dropout problems with innovative approaches. Any program that can dent the dropout rate should be encouraged.
Originally printed in the
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