…who is going to clean up that mess?
On a serious note, how does Bev Perdue propose to solve North Carolina’s public school dropout crisis? You know, the crisis that she failed to solve as lieutenant governor and member of the State Board of Education.
Students who do not graduate from high school but enroll in a community college are counted as dropouts. Perdue said she wants those students to not be counted as dropouts. She also said she would like to use day-care slots for children of high school students who need child care during class. She also wants to improve relationships between students and teachers to keep more children in school. “I’m so sick of hearing all of these numbers being thrown up across the state,” Perdue said. “I knew there were some good things going on here.”
Let’s review.
1. Tinker with data collection. This is an education establishment favorite.
2. Day care. According to DPI statistics, only 166 dropouts (0.7 percent of dropouts) left school during the 2006 – 2007 school year to care for a child.
3. Improve relationships between students and teachers. If you ask me, the state has a problem with relationships between students and teachers.
In the end, Perdue says, “If I win this race, y’all give me a list of options. Tell me what works so we can spread it around.” I thought that was the purpose of the lame dropout prevention grants.
