Staying in school

THE ISSUE

A state commission will recommend to the Legislature that zero tolerance policies be altered to improve school attendance and the state's miserable graduation rate.

A set of recommendations to the Legislature by a state commission charged with working to improve Alabama's high school graduation rate could signal the beginning of a significant turn-around in the quality of life - if other changes are made along the way.

The Commission on High School Graduation and Student Dropout plans to recommend that state law be altered to require students ages 7-18 to remain in school until they graduate. The recommendation is expected to include altering school zero tolerance policies governing student behavior to better reflect the reality of being an adolescent. Both changes are needed to combat Alabama's 39 percent dropout rate - one of the worst in the country.

The commission is basing its recommendations in part on programs across the state that have successfully dealt with discipline problems and how they are resolved. Birmingham schools, for example, have reduced court referrals by 84 percent through alternative discipline programs. Florence has had similar success with its programs.

Zero tolerance programs, adopted some years back in response to perceived worsening behavioral problems, do not allow school administrators to exercise common sense when dealing with individual incidents. The one-size-fits-all approach defies a sensible measured approach to administering discipline and likely has contributed to the dropout problem.

The economic effects of students not finishing school are costly. A recent study found that the 25,000 Alabama students who dropped out of the class of 2008 represent a loss of $6.5 billion in wages during the course of their lifetimes. Studies also show that dropouts tend to cost society more money in drug and health treatment, and in criminal offenses. Clearly, keeping students in school until graduation is an economic win for all members of society.

The piece of the puzzle that is missing in Alabama is the lack of consistent and adequate funding for schools. The state's tax structure is, at best, archaic, and definitely inequitable. The wealthy do not shoulder their fair share of the load, especially in paying property taxes. Alabama's property tax rate is the lowest in the nation, and the wealthy enjoy unfair advantages that cost many Alabamians in a poorer standard of living.

Until that is fixed, schools will struggle, the dropout problem will linger and Alabama will continue to lag the nation in meaningful quality of life.