Pubdate: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 Source: Union Leader (NH) Copyright: 2006 The Union Leader Corp. Contact: http://www.theunionleader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761 Author: Michael Dolphin Note: Michael Dolphin of Manchester is the guidance director at Londonderry High School. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DROPOUTS NEED HELP, NOT A LAW TO KEEP THEM IN SCHOOL Another View HOW MANY New Hampshire residents know that Senate Bill 268, the governor's proposal to raise the dropout age to 18, has already been approved by the Senate and is on its way to a House vote tomorrow? If this legislation passes and takes effect in September 2008, the only communities that will receive funding for alternative education programs will be Manchester and Nashua, for a total of $1.2 million over two years. Along the way to this bill becoming law, few legislators have spoken to the students and the people in the "trenches," who are the administrators, teachers and guidance professionals in our schools. If they had spoken to us, they would discover that the dropout rate would actually increase because every other community besides Manchester and Nashua will fund this mandate based on local control. To raise the number of students staying in school until age 18, Granite Staters need to know why students drop out. The major factor is the use and abuse of illegal substances by students and their parents or guardians. But how many school districts have a "student assistance counselor"? The state's Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention has been closed for several years. A K-12 alcohol and drug education program is needed in every school district because substance abuse education does indeed work, but someone has to create these programs, fund them, train the educators and teach the students. Are school districts going to hire additional elementary, middle and high school teachers to reduce class sizes? Will each school district hire enough guidance staff to reduce student caseloads so counselors actually know each student well? Is the state going to release enough money so each school district can hire school district social workers to work with dysfunctional families to bring them together? Based upon the history of education funding in my lifetime and professional career, New Hampshire will not step forward and fund needed money for our children. All of us remember an educator who positively influenced us to take a risk, dream a dream and "go for it." No matter how times change, today's New Hampshire students respond to a human being's genuine caring and encouragement of their academic or career plan. "Personalization" was the main theme in the January 2005 education summit when Gov. John Lynch took office. Yet in New Hampshire, a student who leaves high school and attains a GED is considered a dropout! Is not a GED a completion of an educational goal that allows access to our exemplary two-year Community and Technical College System? Why does New Hampshire call this child a dropout? Any educator wants all of our students to stay in school until age 18 and graduate and seek further education or reputable employment. Without a comprehensive and collaborative effort to help our neediest children, raising the dropout age to 18 will be nothing more than another false promise for all cities and towns in our great state. - --------------------- Michael Dolphin of Manchester is the guidance director at Londonderry High School. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman