For Dropouts, Education is a Matter of Life or Death

From the field: A Culture of Hope visits Oregon...

In October, while presenting at the Northwest Network of Innovative Schools in Oregon, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel of students from a Job Corps Program, that operates out of Astoria, Oregon. This experience brought me face to face with my own stereotyped, preconceived expectations of “dropouts.” Before meeting the students, I only knew they were former dropouts now living in a residential job corps program, working on their GEDs and trade certificates. Without even thinking about it, I pictured a group of surly, tattooed “losers” who had spent their years in public schools sitting in the back row of classrooms, hoodies up, sleeping with their heads on their desks. Then I met the students and had my terrible misconceptions and unconscious stereotypes pulled right out from under me. 

Had I met any of the students in some Starbucks Coffee house, I would have assumed they were college kids or graduates now successful in some new career. The students were extremely bright and insightful. They were well dressed and well mannered and each and every one was articulate. They quite simply ripped away my misconceptions. For an educational scholar who enjoys a reputation as an authority on poverty and high risk students and who has interviewed hundreds of these students, I found myself way off base.  Far from being a group of losers, I discovered a group of excellent students working hard to find a pathway out of poverty; a group of students with not just dreams, but plans to accomplish their personal goals. Most tragic, each and every one was gaining an education in spite of the public schools that had attempted to serve them. What is important is that these students did not drop out of public school.  No, for one reason or another, they were forced out. They were forced out by policies, lack of specialized services and support or the lack of a single adult who supported them as an advocate. They were forced out by an absence of a Culture of Hope.  I’d like to introduce these students to you…

William: During his high school years William explained that he was eager to learn and highly motivated.  He had developed sophisticated computer skills on his own and he was very interested in learning more. Unfortunately, many of his classmates were loud and disruptive and he found it all but impossible to learn.  He became more and more frustrated and felt that he was just wasting his time. After leaving school, he finally found his way into the Job Corps, quickly finished his GED and is rapidly completing the trade requirements for a career in computer technology. At the conclusion of his time, the Job Corps will help him find a job in computer technology and provide him support for two years. He has definite plans to go on to college.  William needed the Seed of Purpose.

Sara: Sara was attending school and proceeding toward graduation. Unfortunately, she fell ill and had a series of operations that caused her to miss a large number of school days. Unfortunately, the school she attended in her home state of Washington, like schools in so many states, had a required attendance policy that permits student to miss only 11 days per semester. By the time Sara was able to return to school she had already been dropped from the school attendance rolls and informed that she could not return until the next semester. Realizing that she had lost all of her credit for an entire semester and would be far behind when she returned, she left school and got a job at McDonalds. Sara was very fortunate; so many young teenage girls who drop out of school are preyed upon by older men and become pregnant.  When a teenager has a child, it is highly likely that she will have a second child before the age of 21 and be in some type of welfare program for the rest of her life. Somehow Sara escaped that possible fate. Her doctor, who cared for her during her long illness, became concerned about Sara and became her advocate. The doctor recognized what an able student Sara had been and helped her get accepted into the Job Corps. Sara is majoring in Business/Office Skills and is almost finished with her GED. The doctor has promised Sara a job as a receptionist in her office once Sara completes her GED and Vocational Certificate. Sara said, “That doctor believed in me and I could not let her down.”  Sara needed the Seeds of Place and Belonging. 

John: John was a good student and progressing successfully toward graduation. During his junior year he was called to the counselor’s office and told that there had been a mistake during his middle school years and that he had failed to take two required courses. This meant that he could not graduate until he had completed the courses. They explained that it appeared to be a bookkeeping mistake in the middle school counselor’s office and that in order to take the courses he would have to pay tuition. He was told the tuition would be $200. He did not know where he would find the money to complete the middle school courses and no one suggested any way he could resolve the problem. He walked into the Counselor’s office a successful student, and he walked out and left school and never returned. Bitter and angry, he had a difficult time adjusting to life outside of school. Unable to find a good job, he finally learned about the Job Corps and was successful in gaining admission to the program. John has completed his GED and is almost finished with his Culinary Arts vocational certificate. He has already been exploring job opportunities and knows that he has an excellent job waiting when he completes the Job Corps program. His goal is to gain employment with a cruise line and work in the tourist industry either on board a cruise ship or a resort. His long term plan is to complete one of the Chef Training programs in Portland, Oregon and someday, maybe have his own restaurant.  John needed the Seeds of Pride and Self-Esteem.

Sam: Sam was an average student who failed a few courses along the way through middle and high school. He finally got so far behind on his graduation credits that he realized that “he would be about 35 years old before he could finish high school”. No one at the school talked to him about the GED Option Program or completing high school as part of a program at the local community college. The state of Oregon has an unusually policy that works well for students like Sam but no one communicated the options to Sam. If a student graduates from high school, the student has to pay tuition to attend the state’s community colleges. However, if a student completes a GED, they can receive state support to attend community college courses tuition free until they achieve a high school diploma. No one bothered to explain this to Sam or to explore any reasonable options for his education.  Frustrated, he simply left school and started working part time jobs. He was admitted to Job Corps and is completing his GED and vocational certification in Construction. Sam needed the Seed of Optimism.

Isaiah: Isaiah had held on and stayed in school in spite of a very difficult home situation. While never going into specifics, he explained that he felt a huge responsibility for his brothers and sisters. As the oldest child, he tried to protect them and provide for them in spite of unfortunate family problems. It finally became too much. No one at school seemed to care about him or his difficult home life or the needs of his brothers and sisters. He kept working part-time and going to school as long as he could, but finally it all became too much. He dropped out of school and went to work. Isaiah knew he was a good student and realized he was on a dead-end pathway. While never describing what happened to his siblings, Isaiah gained admittance to the Job Corps and the residential program proved to provide just the type of support and stability that he needed. He has finished his GED, and is almost finished with his vocational certificate as an electrician. He will move directly into a job and a union training program and his financial future looks very good. He explains that he will then be able to help his brothers and sisters.  Isaiah needed the Seed of Purpose.

The stories of these five students dramatize the failure of public education to provide the support and services that so many students need. Without Optimism, Place, Pride, and Purpose, good students are failed by the system.  These students’ stories also showcase the need for educational options like Job Corps.  Too often school policies hinder rather than help needy students and far too often schools simply do not provided the necessary services to help keep students in school. School counselors work primarily with students going on to college and too often provide little help for struggling students, despite the numerous resources available. Most public schools do not even know when a student drops out of school and given the pressures on schools to report on student assessment scores, too often schools are not terribly concerned when marginal student or students far behind academically leave prior to graduation. 

Public schools too often simply do not assist students in exploring careers or learning about the vast options available in alternative school programs, on line learning, and vocational and community colleges certification programs. 

 Today, almost 25% of all students drop out of school--approximately a million students each year. For poor and minority students, the dropout percentages are more than twice that. For the dropouts who do not find their way back into school, the door of opportunity is slammed shut and most will live out their lives unemployed, underemployed, or tragically unemployable. Sadly, many dropouts fall into drug and alcohol abuse and enter a “pipeline to prison” that all but terminates their potential for a good life. The brutal reality is how so many of these students are academically able, and with even modest support and encouragement they could be successful in school and plot a reasonable pathway to a good life in their community. It rests on our schools to provide the education and the Seeds of Hope necessary, so they can have hope for a decent life.  For the dropout, education is a matter of “life and death.”

--Bob Barr, Oregon, October 2014