New Information on Alabama's Dropout Rate

ACCORDING TO THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION, STUDENTS NOT GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL IS ALABAMA'S NUMBER ONE EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC PROBLEM.

A new report was published by the Southern Education Foundation finding that in 2007, 41.4 percent of Alabama students dropped out of high school before graduating. This was 2.4 percent higher than a report published by SEF in 2006.

At the "Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" Conference, there was a dropout prevention breakout session. School leaders advocating to lower Alabama's dropout rate provided notes and information on what needs to be done.

What do high dropout rates mean?

Robert Coates, director of secondary education for Tuscaloosa City Schools, was one of the speakers to address the issue of high dropout rates.

Coates said that every 29 seconds someone in the United States drops out of school. And even after 40 years, the dropout problem and the crisis in education are the same.

"If a child drops out of high school, we have a crisis," said Coates. "Why isn't the same emphasis placed on high school dropouts as on the economy?"

Coates said that they should be since dropouts are a part of the economic problem.

Connie Coleman, a counselor at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, said that a student's involvement was key to preventing dropouts.

"If you look closely, those students who are involved aren't going to dropout," said Coleman.

Coleman has been with the Tuscaloosa County School System for 20 years and says she can see some progress being made in dealing with the problem.

However, Coleman said that the dropout rate isn't an individual problem, but rather a societal problem. This means that the problem isn't going to fix itself.

According to research done by Connie Coleman, there are some common characteristics shared by students who eventually dropout.

• Chronic attendance problems
• Failing one or more courses in Reading-Language Arts and/or Math
• Significant history of discipline issues
• Being held back in one or more grades
• Remaining isolated and uninvolved.
  

Also, dropouts have fewer options for postsecondary education and are more likely to be unemployed or employed in low-skilled, low-paying jobs, are more likely to commit crimes and are more likely to need the support of parents into adulthood. This could also lead to experiencing health problems and result in becoming dependent on governmental support.

What is being done to prevent dropouts?

Several steps are being made in the right direction in order to decrease the number of dropouts in Tuscaloosa, as well as the state of Alabama as a whole.

Data meetings are being held with the faculty of elementary, middle and high schools, where faculty and staff are being taught to gather and translate data on the dropout rates. The high schools are focusing on the use of a "graduation calculator" formula to track the number of students dropping out at each grade level so that interventions can be made.

Many schools are assigning students to a faculty member in a mentoring capacity. The teachers promote involvement, monitor student progress and behavior and motivate.

Also, in conjunction with Tuscaloosa's One Place and with state grant funds, resources are being provided to target younger students and parents for early intervention programs.

The Governor's Dropout Prevention Summit will be held in Montgomery, Alabama on March 5, 2009, focusing on the national high school dropout crisis.

What are the costs of preventing dropouts?

According to the Southern Education Foundation, the costs of preventing dropouts would be a lot of money, but the results would positively benefit the state.

More money needs to be spent on funding high-quality, pre-K education, as well as more adequate funding for K-12. Also, financial aid needs to be more easily available and accessable to low income high school graduates, so they can further their education if they choose.

What are the benefits of preventing dropouts?

By lowering the dropout rate, all Alabamians will experience a higher quality of life.

Crime rates would go down and the state would spend less government funding on welfare. Also, the revenue that Alabama would gain from the higher earning potential of a high school graduate is significantly greater than one who drops out.

There would be an increase in civic and community involvement, making Alabama a better place to live.

Obama News Conference

 President Barack Obama addressed several issues facing our nation and answered questions posed by leading news publications in America in his first primetime news conference Monday. 

Some topics of concern addressed by the president were the current economic crisis, the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, the credit crisis and the current war in Iraq and other terrorist organizations.

1) The economic crisis:

President Obama said we are going through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Obama addressed the state of our economy and gave reasons why he needs to put the recovery package into place as soon as possible.

"The single most important part of this recovery plan is that it will save or create up to four million jobs. That is what America needs," said Obama.

Obama hopes his initial economic recovery plan will be passed by Congress.

2) The lack of bipartisanship:

When posed the question whether he thought his administration was moving away from the emphasis on bipartisanship, President Obama said there had been a lot of bad habits built up in Washington and it was going to take some time to break those down.

Obama also addressed that he had made a "series of overtures to the Republicans... designed to try and build up some trust over time." He hopes these will be reciprocated.

But Obama really had one goal he wanted to get across to the American people.

"I can't afford to see Congress play the usual political games," Obama said. "What we have to do right now is deliver for the american people. So my bottom line when it comes to the recovery package is send me a bill that creates or saves 4 million jobs."

Bipartisanship has been integral to the success of America's democracy, and the topic is explored deeper in the myths and realities of bipartisanship in D.C.

3) The credit crisis:

President Obama only has $350 billion remaining in the financial rescue funds to solve the credit crisis. But won't Obama need more than this to actually solve the crisis?

Obama said his first task is to make sure the money is spent properly.

"Before I even think about what else I've got to do, my first task is to make sure that my Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, working with Larry Summers, my National Economic Advisor, and others, are coming up with the best possible plan to use this money wisely," Obama said. "In a way that's transparent; in a way that provides clear oversight; that we are conditioning any money that we give to banks on them reducing executive compensation to reasonable levels; and to make sure that they're not wasting that money."

The credit crisis is far from over and it will be crucial for Obama and his administration to work diligently to solve this problem.

4) The war in Iraq and Afghanistan:

President Obama addressed the issue of removing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as "timely."

Iraq just had an election that went rather peacefully, but Afghanistan is not ready to see its own elections run as smoothly.

However, Obama's bottome line is to not allow al Qaeda to operate and maintain safe havens for these terrorist organizations.

"What I know is, I'm not going to allow al Qaeda or bin Laden to operate with impunity, planning attacks on the U.S. homeland," said Obama.

A map of Afghanistan

Obama's transcript from the news conference fills in the remaining holes of this article.

"Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" Conference

The third annual "Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" Conference focused on making positive changes for children in Tuscaloosa and across the state of Alabama.

Having been on the planning committee for the previous conferences, Judy Young, from Tuscaloosa County Department of Human Resources, said everyone worked together to make this the best conference yet.

"We have representation from an excellent diverse group this year," said Young.

Young said the planning committee revised their agenda based on what was most important to those in attendance.

Representatives from different organizations devoted to making a difference in their communities gathered at this year's conference. Important leaders spoke about their involvement in what they are doing to help give Alabama’s children a brighter future.

Marquita Davis, deputy director for child development services with the Head Start program, spoke at the conference on the importance of expanding the Pre-K program in Alabama. First Class, a program developed on the Governor’s Pre-K Council, was a main topic of discussion for Davis’ presentation.

Davis said First Class’s mission is building on a foundation with three main objectives: to be flexible and affordable, have high standards and strong technical assistance and become a sound investment. There are several guiding principles for expanding Pre-K across the state. Right now Pre-K is a voluntary program for those who choose it.

“You don’t have to go to school until you are seven! Seven!” said Davis.

By expanding the Pre-K program, Davis said they are focusing on closing the achievement gap. Right now the program implements a research based curriculum. This means there is also an ongoing assessment of children’s health, development and learning. Davis says providing health care to these children is key to their development in education as well.

“Many times when we think children are being bad, they are really just sick,” said Davis.

First Class also supports parental and family involvement and is building on existing child-care and Head Start programs. Funding is for community-based programs as well as for schools in the community. However, First Class’s funding strategy is one that needs improvement Davis said.

“I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about funding, because we don’t have any money,” Davis said.

Davis went on to talk about the Alabama high-quality Pre-K standards. Some of the requirements included mandatory health care screenings for each child, the program must utilize curricula approved by the Office of School Readiness and each classroom must meet DHR child-care standards.

Davis also addressed the issue of classroom supplies and equipment.

“If classrooms are in disarray, we will help you get them where they need to be,” said Davis.

First Class provides administrative and instructional materials for teachers and their students.

“The best learning environment is where the teacher is engaged with the students,” Davis said. “One size does not fit all children.”

Davis also addressed what she called “best practices.” These would include focus on physical health and development, emergent literacy, numeracy and science, as well as dramatic play and home living.

Davis said further information could be found on the Office of School Readiness website.

Among the attendees at this year’s conference was Eulonda Russell, a social work student in the masters program at Alabama, who said she found the conference to be very informative.

Other organizations were represented at this year’s conference, including VOICES, seeking to give every Alabama child the opportunity to be heard.

Advance "Doing What Matters" Conference

A former assistant to the Alabama governor and grandson to Justice Hugo Black may be running for the position of state treasurer.

Stephen Black, director of UA's Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility and president/founder of Impact Alabama, has always been fascinated with government and public policy. Black's dedication to making a difference is part of what drove him to serve as assistant to the governor.

During his time as an assistant, Black researched policy issues and worked on economic development projects.

Black said the root of the biggest problems facing Alabama's children are in the way Alabamians are taxed and in the funding of education. As state treasurer, Black could address many of the economic issues facing Alabama residents.

In the meantime, Black is focusing much of his energy on his service learning non-profit organization, Impact Alabama.

Impact Alabama has implemented three initiatives: Focusfirst, Speakfirst and Savefirst. All of which are dedicated to improving the lives of Alabama residents, especially children.

FocusFirst addresses vision care needs for children who don't have health care. As a result, a vast majority of four year olds are not getting vision screenings. Through the FocusFirst initiative millions of Alabama children have beeen screened and have received follow up treatment if needed.

SpeakFirst has formed a debate team for students in lower income schools and provides them with the training and experience to compete in debates. SpeakFirst just had it's first debate team graduate from high school this past year.

SaveFirst focuses on tax preparation for Alabama families who fall below the poverty line and are not receiving many of their benefits due to shady tax preparers who are overcharging and frauding these families. Although Black said all of the initiatives are important, SaveFirst could be the most important one.

With the "Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa's Children" conference coming up on Wednesday, many of Alabama's leading organizations advocating to solve issues facing our children, are preparing to present. The conference will feature speakers, including Black and various other speakers from organizations in Tuscaloosa and around the state on the future of Alabama's children.

Brenda Truelove, coordinator for CHEER UP, will be speaking at this year's conference about the goals and missions of her organization.

"CHEER UP's mission is to assist our community members who may be suffering the effects of our local community's economic situation with specific knowledge of how to access support services," Truelove said.

Truelove says there are several specific areas of need they are targeting including food assistance information, how to apply for unemployment compensations, training/educational options and financial aid assistance among others.

"CHEER UP's role at the conference is simply to make those in attendance aware of our mission and pass out informational data base forms for support agencies," Truelove said. "We will introduce key CHEER UP team members, give faces to names and let them know how to contact us."

This year's conference begins at 8 a.m. on February 4 at the Bryant Conference Center.