Anti-Dropout Student Driver’s Bill Debated : Education: Principals disagree about the effectiveness of requiring students to be on track for graduation before they can get licenses to drive.

A bill aimed at preventing high school dropouts from obtaining driver’s licenses has received mixed reviews from some Ventura County school officials.

The student driver bill by state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) would make it mandatory for a high school student between 16 and 18 to be on schedule to graduate before obtaining a license to drive.

Students would be required to obey attendance policies and not commit an expulsion offense, such as carrying a gun or selling drugs on campus.

No specific grade average for qualifying for a driver’s license is in the bill, but each district would determine whether the student was on schedule toward graduation, even if he or she had only a D-minus average, Hart said.

Private schools would have their own standards because the state cannot impose curricula on them, he added.

The bill, which Hart said is aimed at reducing the state dropout rate, was reintroduced by Hart this year. An earlier version was approved by the Senate 26 to 3 and the Assembly 44 to 27 in 1988, but was vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Deukmejian said he returned the bill without his signature partly because he was not aware of any evidence that denying a driver’s license would change a student’s mind about quitting school.

The governor said he was concerned about the inconsistent graduation standards that could be used by different school districts and said the bill would encroach on a parent’s right to determine what is best for the child and family.

Hart’s bill, which will go to the Senate Education Committee later this month, has provoked reactions ranging from excitement to wariness among Ventura County school officials.

Superintendent Bob Carter of the Oxnard Union High School District, which has six high schools--the most in the county--was enthusiastic.

“This is a strong motivation,” Carter said. “We have to get the word out to these kids that their studies are more important than their driver’s licenses.”

Although there is no provision in the bill to prevent a student from dropping out at 16 after he or she has received a license, Carter said that with only a year or two left until graduation, attending school and studying would be “habit-forming for students by then.”

Carter added that while he sympathizes with lower-income teen-agers who need a car to work, employment is “a very poor argument” for not attending school. Hart’s bill allows hardship cases to be appealed to the Department of Motor Vehicles and juvenile traffic courts.

John Duncan, superintendent of Simi Valley Unified School District, which has three high schools, supports the bill but said its provisions might prove more effective in suburban and rural areas than in urban areas, which have the highest dropout rates.

“I think it would help dropout rates,” Duncan said. “The geography would lend itself to making it even more effective. Having access to a car seems to be more important in suburban areas than urban areas.”

William Seaver, superintendent of the Conejo Valley Unified School District, which has three high schools, expressed doubts about the measure.

“I’m not particularly supportive of the bill,” he said. “It’s one more thing that the schools have to do, and we’re going to be the ones dealing with it, not Gary Hart.”

Seaver added that while it is important that students maintain their grades, it is up to the student and his or her parents to ensure that schoolwork is up to par.

“I don’t believe it’s the school’s primary responsibility to bring up their grades,” he said.

Funding also is a thorny issue, Seaver said.

“If we have to monitor people and let the DMV know, that will take a fair amount of time,” he said. “We may have to hire extra personnel; there will be a cost and the public schools will have to bear it.”

The bill does not provide any funding, but the average daily attendance of schools may increase, which may translate into increased funds for the districts, Hart said.

Countywide, school districts receive about $16.21 each day per student in attendance, said Sarah Hart, assistant superintendent of business services at Conejo Unified. Local taxes are part of the $16.21 and the state makes up the difference.

Hart, a former high school teacher, said school districts would not do much additional work if the bill becomes law. Schools now must check off a box confirming that students have completed driver education courses. “All that we’re doing under this bill is filling out one more box,” he said.

Regarding the issue of inconsistent standards, Hart said, “The standard of making satisfactory progress is a set standard. You need to pass a certain number of courses to graduate, which is nothing more than a D-minus average.”

Hart said he was reintroducing the bill because statistics from West Virginia show that dropout rates have decreased as a result of similar legislation in that state.

Theresa Wilson of the West Virginia Department of Education said 1,809 students were notified that they would be affected by a student driver bill and 863 decided to stay in school. Of the 946 who dropped out, 400 returned to get a general education development certificate, which is the equivalent of a high school diploma, so they could obtain driver licenses.

“We’ve also seen an increase in enrollment at the junior high level because those kids are getting ready to get their licenses,” she said.

Wilson said that in July, 1988, West Virginia became the first state to pass such legislation, followed by Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Ventura County’s dropout rate of about 13% is much lower than the state average of 22.1%, said Richard Morrison, coordinator of pupil and administrative services for the county Department of Education.

“In this county we’re exercising virtually every option under the state law for truancy,” Morrison said. “Truancy is a priority in this county.”