High-School Dropouts

In the two-part series, the most glaring fault of the dropouts is that they can’t read well. That must be corrected, or we will continue to have dropouts in growing numbers. Frequently they follow this sequence: They don’t learn how to read well in the first two grades so that by the third grade they’re reading at the second-grade level; when in the fifth grade they’re reading at the third-grade level; when in the eighth grade at the fifth-grade level. They continually fall behind. At the age of 14 they are ready to drop out.

And drop out they do. They have never developed proper study habits; they lack self-discipline and the commitment to finish a task. They want grades without working for them. Added to this are parents who don’t understand the value of education and often a grinding poverty borne by the students which wears down their self-esteem and saddles them with a lethargy they can’t shake.

To solve this problem, we must be sure that all students read well by the time they leave the second grade. We must eliminate that poverty that sends children to school victims of malnutrition. When we learn that in this country 25% of children under 6 live in poverty, then it is time to charge this country of affluence with criminal negligence.

Quality education is a must. We have no grace period. We must do it now.

DON RADEMACHER

Los Angeles