President Obama Takes Aim at High Drop-out Rates in Schools,

From the New York Times:

President Obama pledged today to tackle the dropout rate of American high school students, calling it an economic imperative if the United States intends to remain competitive in the global society. We know that the success of every American will be tied more closely than ever before to the level of education that they achieve,” Mr. Obama said. “The jobs will go to the people with the knowledge and the skills to do them. It’s that simple.”

The president proposed giving $900 million in federal grants to states and school districts that agree to turn around – or, in some cases, close – the 2,000 schools across the country that produce more than half of the nation’s dropouts.

In a speech today at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Obama made the announcement alongside former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma, who lead the America’s Promise Alliance, an advocacy group dedicated to turning around the epidemic of school dropouts. “In this kind of knowledge economy,” Mr. Obama said, “giving up on your education and dropping out of school means not only giving up on your future, but it’s also giving up on your family’s future and giving up on your country’s future.”

To qualify for the School Turnaround Grants, the school districts would need to agree to a series of criteria, including: firing the principal and at least half the staff; reopening as a charter school; close the school all together and transfer students to better schools in the district.

The $900 million grants, which must be approved by Congress, follows $3.5 billion included in last year’s economic stimulus plan that was aimed at helping boost the performance of schools.

The current situation with the high drop out rates is a catastrophe for our country. Principals and school administrators must be held accountable. Teacher effectiveness is an important issue that we must focus on,  but community involvement is also paramount and should factor into any solution to stem this disturbing trend. President Obama said 1.2 million students drop out of school before graduating from high school.