[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 154 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9709-S9710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN:
  S. 3627. A bill to improve the calculation of, the reporting of, and 
the accountability for, secondary school graduation rates; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, this fall our Nation's high school 
graduation class of 2012 took their first steps into their local high 
school as freshmen. The best research based on data from all 50 states 
tells us that \1/3\ of that class of freshmen will not walk across a 
stage and receive their diploma with their peers in four years.
  Tragically we face a national high school drop out crisis. Every year 
an estimated 1.23 million students drop out of high school. To put that 
number in perspective, it is equivalent to the entire population of the 
ninth largest city in the country, Dallas.
  What are the facts of the Nation's dropout epidemic? We know that if 
you are Black or Hispanic it's essentially a 50-50 chance that you will 
graduate in 4 years. This disparity exists even in my home State of 
Iowa, one of the best states in the Nation in terms of graduating kids 
in 4 years. According to data from the Editorial Projects in Education 
Research Center, 58 percent of African-American students in Iowa 
graduate in 4 years--almost 30 points lower than white students--while 
the graduation rate for Hispanic students is only 54 percent.
  Just as the data on racial and ethnic minorities paints a grim 
picture, a look into the Nation's graduation rates for students with 
disabilities shows many students continue to be failed by the system. 
The most recent data indicates that slightly more than half of all 
students with disabilities graduated from high school with a regular 
diploma. Those rates go down when examining different categories of 
students with disabilities. For instance, only 43 percent of students 
with emotional disturbances graduate from high school with a regular 
diploma. Bear in mind that many of these students do not have a 
learning disability, and with the proper supports and interventions 
they can achieve at the same levels expected of their non-disabled 
peers.
  But these statistics may not even tell the full story. Too few States 
use a ``cohort rate,'' which tracks students from high school entrance 
through exit. Because of the flexibility in No Child Left Behind, many 
States choose to employ a method of calculation that produces inflated 
reports due to undercounting dropouts. In 2005, the Government 
Accountability Office first documented troubling and inconsistent 
trends in graduation rate reporting. Unfortunately, because we lack of 
uniform measure of graduation rates, hundreds of thousands of children 
are unaccounted for each year.
  We owe it to these students to do a better job of tracking their 
progress towards graduation, and ensuring that they receive their high 
school diploma in 4 years. Census Bureau data shows there is a $9,000 
discrepancy between the average income of a high school graduate and a 
high school dropout. In the middle of an economic crisis that is 
affecting American families' savings, an extra $9,000 would go a long 
way.
  But looking beyond the individual impact, an education system that 
properly educates its young people and graduates them in 4 years 
provides economic security for the country. Research by Cecilia Rouse, 
professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, 
shows that each drop out, over his or her lifetime, costs the Nation 
approximately $260,000. If more than 1 million students continue to 
dropout of high school each year, in 10 years that will amount to a 
cost of $3 trillion to our Nation.
  Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. Today I introduce the Every 
Student Counts Act, legislation that directly addresses the nation's 
dropout

[[Page S9710]]

crisis through the creation of one consistent graduation rate across 
all 50 states and by setting meaningful graduation rate goals and 
targets for schools, districts and States.
  As we roll up our sleeves and get down to the serious business of 
solving the dropout crisis, we cannot waste our energy and our time 
arguing over whose data is correct. As I noted above, today we have 50 
States with 50 different ways of measuring dropouts. In addition, we 
have many well-meaning education organizations with their own figures 
on high school graduation. It should be no surprise that they do not 
match up.
  Take for example the difference in the graduation rates between those 
compiled by the independent Editorial Projects in Education Research 
Center, whose data is employed in Education Week's ``Diplomas Count'' 
annual report, and those currently reported by the States. While I 
think most would expect those rates to be relatively similar, they are 
not. In some States the difference between the two graduation rates is 
as much as 30 percentage points.
  That is why the first thing the Every Student Count Act will do is 
make graduation rate calculations uniform and accurate. The bill 
requires that all States calculate their graduation rates in the same 
manner, allowing for more consistency and transparency. This bill will 
bring all 50 States together by requiring each State to report both a 
4-year graduation rate and a cumulative graduation rate. A cumulative 
graduation rate will give parents a clear picture of how many students 
are graduating, while acknowledging that not all children will graduate 
in 4 years.
  But agreement on one graduation rate is only half the battle here. 
Schools, school districts and States that are not already graduating a 
high number of students must be required to make annual progress to 
high graduation rates. The Every Student Counts Act sets a graduation 
rate goal of 90 percent for all students and disadvantaged populations. 
Schools, districts and States with graduation rates below 90 percent, 
in the aggregate or for any subgroup, will be required to increase 
their graduation rates an average of 3 percentage points per year in 
order to make adequate yearly progress required under the No Child Left 
Behind Law.
  Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to thank the growing list 
of organizations representing the interests of children across the 
country who have signed on to support the Every Student Counts Act. 
Specifically, I recognize the Alliance for Excellent Education and 
their President, former Governor of West Virginia Bob Wise, who have 
been champions in the movement to improve our high schools and turn 
back the dropout crisis.
  I would also like to recognize the work of my colleague in the House, 
Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, who is the chief sponsor of the 
companion to this legislation and has long championed education for 
disadvantaged young people.
  We have no more urgent educational challenge than bringing down the 
dropout rate, especially for minorities and children with disabilities. 
For reasons we all understand--poverty, poor nutrition, broken homes, 
disadvantaged childhoods--not all of our students come to school every 
day ready to learn. In some cases, it's as though they have been set up 
to fail. They grow frustrated. They drop out. As a result, they face a 
lifetime of fewer opportunities and lower earnings. Economically, our 
Nation cannot afford to lose one million students each year. Morally, 
we cannot allow children to continue to fall through the cracks. I 
believe the Every Student Counts Act puts us on the right track towards 
turning back the tide of high school dropouts and I ask my colleagues 
to support this legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                               September 26, 2008.
     Senator Tom Harkin,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Harkin:  We, the undersigned education, civil 
     rights, and advocacy organizations thank you for introducing 
     the Every Student Counts Act to ensure meaningful 
     accountability for the graduation rates of our nation's 
     students. As you know, educators and policymakers at all 
     levels of government agree that change is necessary on this 
     issue.
       Only 70 percent of our nation's students graduate with a 
     regular diploma. Worse, just over half of black and Hispanic 
     students graduate on time. Special education students also 
     have graduation rates of just over 50 percent. Such poor 
     graduation rates are untenable in a global economy that 
     demands an educated workforce. According to the Department of 
     Labor, 90 percent of the fastest-growing and best-paying jobs 
     in the United States require at least some postsecondary 
     education. It is imperative that the nation's schools prepare 
     their students to succeed in the twenty-first-century 
     workforce.
       The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has focused the 
     nation's attention on the unacceptable achievement gap and 
     the need to improve outcomes for all students, particularly 
     those of minority students, English language learners, and 
     students with disabilities. However, NCLB does not place 
     enough importance on graduating the nation's high school 
     students. Furthermore, current federal policy on graduation 
     rates permits the use of inconsistent and misleading 
     graduation rate calculations that overestimate graduation 
     rates, does not require meaningful increases in graduation 
     rates over time, and does not require the graduation rates of 
     student subgroups to increase as part of Adequate Yearly 
     Progress (AYP) determinations.
       As a response, the Secretary of Education has created 
     proposed regulations to address these concerns. Although the 
     proposed regulations are a laudable step in the right 
     direction, we believe that the Every Student Counts Act is a 
     better approach to ensuring that all students are treated 
     equally in calculating graduation rates and for 
     accountability purposes.
       The Every Student Counts Act would do the following: 
     require a consistent and accurate calculation of graduation 
     rates across all fifty states to ensure comparability and 
     transparency; require that graduation rate calculations be 
     disaggregated for both accountability and reporting purposes 
     to ensure that school improvement activities focus on all 
     students and close achievement gaps; ensure that graduation 
     rates and test scores are treated equally in AYP 
     determinations; require aggressive, attainable, and uniform 
     annual growth requirements as part of AYP to ensure 
     consistent increases in graduation rates for all students; 
     recognize that some small numbers of students take longer 
     than four years to graduate and give credit to schools, 
     school districts and states for graduating those students 
     while maintaining the primacy of graduating the great 
     preponderance of all students in four years; and provide 
     incentives for schools, districts and states to create 
     programs to serve students who have already dropped out and 
     are over-age and undercredited.
       Again, we thank you for introducing the Every Student 
     Counts Act and for your leadership on this critical issue.
           Sincerely,
       Alliance for Excellent Education.
       American Foundation for the Blind.
       Association of University Center on Disabilities
       Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
       Big Brothers Big Sisters
       Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity 
     Disorder (CHADD)
       Council for Learning Disabilities
       Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
       Easter Seals
       First Focus
       GLSEN--the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
       Helen Keller National Center
       Higher Education Consortium for Special Education
       Learning Disabilities Association of America
       League of United Latin American Citizens
       Knowledge Alliance
       National Association for the Education of Homeless Children 
     and Youth
       National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc.
       National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness
       National Collaboration for Youth
       National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform
       Project GRAD
       Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional 
     Children
       Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. 
     (TESOL)
       The Advocacy Institute
       The Arc of the U.S.
       United Cerebral Palsy
       United Way of America
       YouthBuild USA
       Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
       Joan L. Benson, President & CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships 
     for Children
                                 ______