Jonetta Rose Barras: D.C. public schools playing a numbers game
By: Jonetta Rose Barras
Examiner Columnist
August 27, 2009
Poor Michelle Rhee. The D.C. Public Schools chancellor seems perpetually locked in the proverbial damned if you do, damned if you don't posture.
She took heat this week for not reaching the enrollment goal of 45,000 for the 2009-2010 school year. The complaint came on the first day of school -- even as parents continued to stream into buildings around the city to register their children and before an official enrollment audit has been conducted.
From my vantage, there's reason to celebrate: Last year this time only 11,400 children had formally registered to attend traditional public schools. By comparison, on Monday 39,000 students were officially enrolled in DCPS.
Translation: DCPS wasn't parents' "Hail Mary" choice. It was first on their list.
Enrollment numbers are important. More critical is the number of children who graduate. Nationally, the rate of students dropping out of school appears to be on the rise.
During a congressional hearing in May, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chair of the Committee on Education and Labor, called the problem a "real" and "urgent" crisis. About 7,000 students nationwide drop out every day, according to published reports.
"It's become increasingly clear that addressing this dropout crisis is one of the most important things we can do to turn our economy around and regain our competitive footing for good," Miller said.
"It's become increasingly clear that addressing this dropout crisis is one of the most important things we can do to turn our economy around and regain our competitive footing for good," Miller said.
The National Women's Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund are expected to release Thursday a report, "Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation," which puts the dropout rate in that population at 41 percent.
"Latina teens face barriers involving both ethnicity and gender -- not to mention having the highest teen pregnancy rate and the highest teen birth rate of any population of girls," said NWLC spokeswoman Adrienne Ammerman. "This is a critical issue for District residents, considering our large Latino population."
But Latinos aren't the only ones dropping out. Chad Colby, spokesman for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, indicated that in 2008, 32 percent of DCPS students didn't graduate.
"Many students drop out because of safety concerns, or they don't feel connected to the school," said Chad Ferguson, deputy chief of youth engagement at DCPS and instructional superintendent for Cluster 6 who is responsible for alternative schools and programs.
Interviews with Colby and Ferguson suggest the city is focused on prevention. OSSE is developing a system that will "track individual kids when they enter the system." DCPS has school-based committees monitor attendance; monthly reports are reviewed by the chancellor. A new disciplinary code is designed to keep schools safer; support teams monitor student engagement, intervening when there is trouble; and there is outreach to previously incarcerated youth.
"We're starting to get cold [telephone] calls from some kids who heard about what we've have done for others and want us to help them," Ferguson said.
Now, that's something to celebrate.
