Dealing With a Staggering Loss

The alarmingly high dropout rate in many California high schools exacts both human and economic costs to the state. A package of legislation is moving toward the governor’s desk that would help reduce those costs, and it deserves his signature.

In the last 10 years the dropout rate has climbed from 20.1% to 31.1% in California high schools. It is higher in many schools--59% at Bell and 57% at San Fernando in Los Angeles, 47% at Santa Ana High School, 51% at Lincoln High in San Diego. Those numbers translate into students who may not be able to get jobs, who certainly can’t advance in a technological age, and who definitely aren’t turned on by learning. They also translate into lost business opportunities. Companies that cannot get a skilled work force in California will go elsewhere.

One of the bills, sponsored by Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles), would require school districts to keep better statistics on dropouts. The bill (AB 2454), scaled down now to costing $2 million, also would improve counseling for junior-high students at schools that feed into the high schools with high dropout rates.

Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) would provide money to help identify potential dropouts in the fourth or fifth grade, while they can still receive meaningful help. The legislation would also help school districts steer young people who already have dropped out into educational clinics where they would receive training that would help them return to school or pass the high-school-equivalency examination.

Torres’ bill, SB 65, carries a $4-million price tag. Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed a similar bill last year on the ground that the state couldn’t afford the expense. The state is in far better financial shape this year. It cannot afford not to deal with this staggering loss in human resources.