Lower dropout rate sought

DURHAM -- Potential high school dropouts could see up to $10 million in new programs to help keep them in school, under a plan from some state legislators.

Officials said Tuesday they will propose the package of grants, possibly next week, and it could allocate money to North Carolina schools by the fall, said House Speaker Joe Hackney, one of three legislators who led a public hearing Tuesday at Shepard Magnet Middle School. Joining Hackney were leaders of a House committee on education, Rep. Susan Fisher, a Democrat from Buncombe County, and Rep. Earline Parmon, a Democrat from Forsyth County. Together, the two head the House subcommittee on preschool, elementary and secondary education.

The legislators say Tuesday's hearing, one of two such sessions this month, was to gather ideas for programs the grant money could fund.

"We know this is a hard problem," Hackney said to more than 50 local leaders, parents and educators who gathered for the hearing. "But we have to get started and do more than we have been doing."

Recent statistics show more than 22,000 students dropped out of high school last year, the largest number in six years.

The most frequent suggestion speakers made Tuesday was a change to the law that lets students drop out of school at age 16.

Among those who voiced support for the change were state Rep. Angela Bryant, a Democrat representing Halifax and Nash counties, and Ellen Reckhow, chairwoman of the Durham County Board of Commissioners.

"The higher statutory age sends a clear message to our young people that the expectation is not attendance until 16, but high school graduation," Reckhow said.

Earlier this year, Durham's chamber of commerce, its city and county governments and the school system passed a joint resolution supporting a higher attendance age. Bills to increase the mandatory attendance age to 17 and eventually 18 already have been filed in both the state House and Senate. Similar proposals have been filed in the past and stalled for lack of support.

Other participants said disciplinary practices in schools need to be overhauled.

"We believe there is a correlation between dropping out and being repetitiously suspended or expelled from school," said Curtis Gatewood, second vice president for the state NAACP Conference of Branches. He suggested intensive training of teachers and administrators in dealing with students from urban areas. Students at risk of dropping out need teachers who have been trained in the cultural expectations and experiences of minority students, who often drop out at higher rates than their white peers, he said.

The state also lacks alternative programs for students who have dropped out and want to go back to school.

"When a student is 18 years old, that student doesn't want to sit with 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds," said teacher Amy Pine, who works at Riverside High School in Durham.