The Voice of Business, Industry & the Professions Since 1942
North Carolina's largest business group proudly serves as the state chamber of commerce

 Editorial for March 2005
 

High School Dropouts
 
 
The number of students who dropped out of high school rose last year for the first time in several years. The State Department of Public Instruction said a little over 20,000 students, or just under five percent of all high school students, left school for good last year. The drop-out rate had been declining over the past four years.

Professionals whose opinions matter are weighing in on why so many young people are quitting school, and the business community as well ought to give this some thought. For example, we might ask ourselves if we aren’t partly to blame. I think we are.

If you remember the bad old days in public education in North Carolina — the 1980s and early ’90s, employers had problems hiring high school graduates. A frequent complaint was they had poor math and reading skills and didn’t know how to work as a team. In 1995, the CEO of one large Charlotte manufacturing concern stepped on some toes but voiced a view held by many when he said in these pages that it was getting to be a big expense training entry-level workers to do simple jobs.

Gov. Hunt took up that cause and challenged North Carolina to build the best public school system in the nation. He said a high school diploma ought to mean something when applying for a job.

Years of work raising academic standards and expectations have followed. Now we do have great schools. Expectation and standards are high — higher, apparently, than some students can meet. A high school diploma means something.

Gov. Mike Easley might be onto something with his idea of combining the senior year of high school with community college. In five years the student would earn a two-year technical degree. Maybe this would encourage more students to prepare for successful careers in the workforce.

“We are committed to high academic standards and will never go down the easy road of social promotion,” said State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee. “We will make sure that every child is ready to learn and that every child will one day be ready to earn.”

But let’s also make sure the ones who don’t make it aren’t forgotten. -- Steve Tuttle



 

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