[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 9, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5863-S5864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ADDRESSING THE DROPOUT EPIDEMIC

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, education has long been the key to 
opportunity, progress, and prosperity in America. Our schools and 
teachers prepare young Americans to compete and succeed in an ever-
changing economy. Good schools shape the character of our citizens. 
They train Americans to participate in our democracy, and to serve our 
country and our communities. And a strong education system helps 
protect our national security. Above all, it's a force to move America 
forward. It is the engine of the American dream.
  When we enacted the No Child Left Behind Act 5 years ago, we sought 
to modernize and reform our public schools, and reaffirm the original 
commitment made in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965. 
The No Child Left Behind Act sets lofty goals for all schools to meet, 
and requires States to establish strong standards, a rigorous 
curriculum, and reliable assessments.
  Congress should not abandon those fundamental goals as it works to 
reauthorize the law this year.
  Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that too many of America's students 
still don't receive all that is needed to engage and succeed in school, 
learn to high standards, and graduate on time. Each year, approximately 
1 million students do not finish high school in time to graduate with 
their peers.
  The Nation's dropout rate is more than a problem--it is a national 
crisis--and one that a Nation so deeply committed to the fundamental 
value of equal justice and opportunities for all cannot afford to 
ignore.
  In 1963, President Kennedy decried the fact that four out of 10 fifth 
graders did not finish high school. At that time, he called it ``a 
waste we cannot afford.''
  Forty-four years later, the statistics on high school graduation 
rates are still staggering. About 1,000 high schools across the country 
only graduate half their students. Among African Americans and Latinos, 
only 55 percent graduate on time. Every day, 7,000 young Americans drop 
out of school.
  Reaching these dropouts--and giving them a chance to get back on 
track--is a national imperative. We have a moral commitment and an 
obligation to children, to parents, and to our communities to provide 
each and every one of our students with the chance to attend an 
excellent public school and graduate with a diploma. Delivering on that 
basic commitment is a measure of our strength as a democracy, and it's 
an expression of our values and our belief as a nation that our 
children are our future.
  Reducing the dropout rate in our schools is not just the right thing 
to do. This epidemic has very real consequences for our country, and 
addressing it is an economic necessity.
  High school dropouts earn, on average, $260,000 less than high school 
graduates over the course of their lifetime, and nearly $1 million less 
than individuals with a college degree. If each student who dropped out 
of the class of 2006 had graduated, America's economy would have been 
$309 billion stronger in future years.
  If the approximately 1.2 million young people who are estimated to 
drop out of school in the United States this year could earn high 
school diplomas instead, States could save more than $17 billion in 
costs under Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured care over the 
course of these young people's lifetimes.
  Curbing the dropout rate requires a comprehensive solution. Our high 
schools clearly need greater assistance in supporting and retaining 
their students.
  We must recognize, however, that this problem does not begin in high 
school. Intervention should start in the elementary and middle school 
years, when standards and expectations are set. Children who do not 
learn to read or do basic math in these grades will fall farther and 
farther behind, and find it increasingly difficult to catch up in the 
faster-paced high school grades.
  Research shows that we can identify students who are most at-risk for 
not

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completing high school as early as sixth grade. With early 
intervention, quality teachers, small classes, and data-driven 
instruction, we can ensure that these students make progress, stay in 
school and succeed.
  Once students reach high school, we must do more to engage them in 
the learning process. States and cities across the country are already 
taking steps to address this challenge, such as offering extra help 
during the school day, extending learning time, and adopting other 
school-based interventions.
  In Massachusetts, Boston public schools are working with private 
partners to create smaller learning communities, improve instruction, 
and strengthen professional development for teachers. Our high schools 
are undergoing a transformation to focus on business, technology, 
health professions, arts, public service, engineering, sciences, 
international studies, and social justice. In many of them, students 
can prepare for future opportunities after they graduate, by enrolling 
in courses for college credit or pursuing hands-on experience in a 
career that interests them.
  We must all work in Congress to help more districts like Boston mount 
significant efforts to address these issues and make progress in 
reducing the dropout rate.
  I have joined my colleagues on the HELP Committee--Senator Bingaman 
and Senator Burr--in introducing the Graduation Promise Act, which 
would fund state efforts that target resources and reforms to turn 
around high schools with low graduation rates. 15 percent of America's 
high schools produce half of our dropouts. In these schools--some of 
which have as many as 400 students in a freshman class--8 out of 10 of 
the students start high school already having repeated a grade, or are 
special education students, or are two years or more below grade level.
  It's very clear that these schools need more assistance in supporting 
and retaining these students, and that's what we hope to provide.
  We must also do more to better connect schools with the communities 
around them, and provide the safety-net of services that at-risk 
students need to help them stay in school. The Keeping PACE Act would 
provide federal funds for these efforts.
  Supporting the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical 
development of our youth is a key strategy for breaking down the 
barriers to learning.
  Finally, in order to target reforms, we must accurately measure and 
track graduation rates throughout the country. Today, in some 
districts, students who leave school are counted as dropouts only if 
they have registered as dropouts. In other districts, a promise to earn 
a GED is all it takes to be counted as a ``graduate.'' That's 
unacceptable. Obtaining reliable data is the only way to identify and 
target the level of reform and resources necessary to assist schools 
struggling with high dropout rates.
  We have an obligation to encourage these and other creative reforms 
in our schools, and provide the support structure and safe harbor 
needed to present students at-risk from dropping out. But we must also 
back up these essential reforms with real investments.
  Today, the federal investment in education at all levels--especially 
in the middle and high school grades--is not sufficient. Only 8 percent 
of students who benefit from the federal investment in Title I are in 
high school. Ninety-percent of high schools with very low graduation 
rates have high concentrations of low-income students--but only a 
quarter of them receive federal assistance. We need to dedicate more 
resources and support for secondary schools to improve academic 
achievement and ensure that every student has a fair opportunity to 
graduate. We need to target our efforts, resources, and ideas for 
effective reform to the schools that need them most.
  As we consider ways to strengthen and advance our national commitment 
to leave no child behind, we have an opportunity to give teachers, 
schools, districts and states the support they need to ensure a high-
quality education for every student.
  We can no longer turn a blind eye to the millions of young people who 
fall through the cracks. Let us demand more of ourselves. Let us 
recommit ourselves to the spirit and the principles of excellence and 
equal opportunity that have shaped our historic commitment to improving 
public education. Above all, let us commit ourselves to the great goal 
of making this silent but severe epidemic--America's dropout crisis--a 
thing of the past.

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