Any Pitch OK as School Plays Hardball With Dropout Rate

Squeals of delight issued through the room when the San Fernando High School students gathered in the school’s auditorium realized that Dodger pitching ace Fernando Valenzuela was going to speak to them in Spanish.

Valenzuela had a simple message for the students, more than three-quarters of whom are Latino: Don’t drop out of school.

Some of the teachers found the pitcher’s appearance ironic, since Valenzuela, a dropout himself, earns $1.2 million a year. But, with the dropout problem in the Los Angeles Unified School District reaching critical proportions, these same educators say they are willing to try anything to keep students in school.

According to a report recently issued by the school district, more than 44% of the students who enrolled as sophomores in 1981 did not graduate with their classmates in June, 1984. At some schools this attrition rate, which the district calls the non-graduating figure, is much higher.

56.4% Attrition Rate

San Fernando High, for example, has an attrition rate of 56.4%, which includes both dropouts and those who move out of the Los Angeles district. Mike Mishef, administrative dean of the school, said his records show a 40% dropout rate. The most vulnerable year, he said, is the 10th grade, in which the school usually loses about 50% of the class between September and June.

“We start off with classes between 1,100 to 1,000 students,” Mishef said. “By graduation, we have a class of 400 or less.”

Because of its high attrition rate--the fifth highest of the district’s 49 high schools--San Fernando will become one of the test sites for a district-sponsored dropout prevention project. The school also has its own hard-line attendance policy and an attendance incentive program, which includes special events such as the appearance of Valenzuela. The school implements the program with the help of Aratex Services Inc., the Encino-based division of ARA Services that assists the school under the districtwide “adopt-a-school” program.

That Valenzuela spoke to the students in Spanish is particularly significant because he was at a school where 82% of the students are Latino and because the Latino community has the nation’s highest dropout rate.

Figures from the National Education Assn., the nation’s largest teachers’ union, show that 40% of the nation’s Latino youths leave high school before receiving their diplomas.

Studies indicate that completion of high school directly affects employment. The most recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that high school graduates have a higher employment rate than high school dropouts. In 1982, 82% of all high school graduates were employed. Only 64% of high school dropouts had jobs.

Lowest in 12 Years

The 1982 employment rate for dropouts was the lowest in 12 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A spokesman for the bureau added that the decline in the number of jobs available for persons without basic high school diplomas is expected to continue.

“Dropping out of school is more a socioeconomic phenomenon than anything else,” said Nancy Kocheck, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based National Education Assn. “The higher the family income and the more education the parents have--no matter what the student’s race--the more likely that the student will finish high school. The lower the income, the less education in the family background, the greater the chances that the student will not finish high school.”

At San Fernando High, the attendance battle begins when a student has been absent for five consecutive days. A machine dials the home telephone numbers of students with extended absences for school officials seeking answers from parents or guardians about the absence.

If telephone contact cannot be made, letters are sent. If this does not work, counselors visit the home to inquire about the student’s absence.

“For the most part, we know why most of our students are no longer in school,” Mishef said. Pregnancy, the need for someone to care for smaller children in the home and students taking full-time jobs to help in supporting the family are some of the reasons he listed for extended absences.

Holidays Are Problem

“The holidays are the worst times. We have a lot of students from Mexico, and, at Christmas and Easter, they return to Mexico. Sometimes they are a little slow about returning to school.”

The school rewards individual students for good attendance. Those with perfect attendance or a minimum of absences are given certificates. Coupons for food and soft drinks from nearby fast-food franchises also are handed out for regular attendance.

Special activities such as outings to the Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, movie screenings and parties, are provided for students who have good attendance records. Bills for these events are usually picked up by Aratex.

Valenzuela gave the students an incentive to improve their attendance. He promised that he and the Dodgers would pick up the tab for the class with the best attendance from mid-February to the end of the school year to attend a home game.

“We will do anything to get the kids to attend classes, even bribe them,” Mishef said.

The school district will augment San Fernando’s efforts to prevent students from dropping out with a pilot program, scheduled to begin sometime this spring.

The plan calls for the establishment of three dropout prevention/recovery teams to serve 12 schools. Each team will consist of a psychologist, two attendance counselors and four dropout prevention advisers.

From 50 to 100 students at each school will be selected for attention from squad members. Student selection, according to the school district, will be based on grades, absences, test scores, behavior problems, home problems and referrals from school counselors and community agencies.

Available to All Students

The program also will offer dropout prevention information to all students at the schools and will try to reach students who have already left school and assist them in returning.

Three months ago the school district mailed letters to about 2,000 dropouts, inviting them to return to school to complete work toward their diploma or to train for a specific job. The first letter is being followed up by telephone calls and more letters signed by school officials.

So far about 200 dropouts have returned to their high schools to attend special sessions organized by high school and adult education officials.

As the students filed out of the auditorium after hearing Valenzuela’s recent pitch for them to stay in school, the popular pitcher donned a baseball cap in the high school’s black and gold colors. In English, he told the students, “In baseball you can win or lose. In education, you can never lose.”

As the students stood up and cheered, one teacher said, “Just his appearance won’t stop a student from leaving school. But the message that these students are getting is that a big star and big organizations like the Dodgers and Aratex are concerned about them. When you have programs like this combined with other things, maybe we can make a difference.”