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We'll try this again since my thread regarding North Carolina's #6 ranking on the worst states for "dropout factories" was strangely deleted. There's a chance my wife and I may be moving to North Carolina (Charlotte) or South Carolina (Greenville), and we have three school-aged children.
The latest rankings for "dropout factories" are very troubling for us. With NC as the #6 worst, and SC as the #1 worst, what are the schools like? Is it just in certain districts in NC? There seem to be a lot of Charlotte districts listed. Are there any districts in the Charlotte area to aim for and others to stay away from? Huntersville maybe?
We'll try this again since my thread regarding North Carolina's #6 ranking on the worst states for "dropout factories" was strangely deleted. There's a chance my wife and I may be moving to North Carolina (Charlotte) or South Carolina (Greenville), and we have three school-aged children.
The latest rankings for "dropout factories" are very troubling for us. With NC as the #6 worst, and SC as the #1 worst, what are the schools like? Is it just in certain districts in NC? There seem to be a lot of Charlotte districts listed. Are there any districts in the Charlotte area to aim for and others to stay away from? Huntersville maybe?
The map legend states that the trends on "dropouts" are formed from the percentage of freshman who are there as seniors. What does that say about areas where mobility is high, as in the DC metro area, California, etc? If families transfer in and out then that affects the numbers, doesn't it?
We'll try this again since my thread regarding North Carolina's #6 ranking on the worst states for "dropout factories" was strangely deleted. There's a chance my wife and I may be moving to North Carolina (Charlotte) or South Carolina (Greenville), and we have three school-aged children.
The latest rankings for "dropout factories" are very troubling for us. With NC as the #6 worst, and SC as the #1 worst, what are the schools like? Is it just in certain districts in NC? There seem to be a lot of Charlotte districts listed. Are there any districts in the Charlotte area to aim for and others to stay away from? Huntersville maybe?
Here's the thing, you sound like a well educated person yourself - upwardly mobile, professional. Do you REALLY think there is a snowballs chance in hell YOUR kids are going to be dropouts? Seriously, that dropout numbers are high in any state is tragic, and it does affect the community at large, however, your kids have two intelligent, committed, well-educated parents, they will be okay.
Of course we should all be concerned when a percentage of our communities don't value education, especially if the number gets too large, as this will prevent the most desirable companies and industries from chosing your community to locate to (all companies want an educated work force). But on a personel level, how does the kid in the next seat over from your kid becoming a drop out hurt your kids chances of being successful in school? A kid dropping out of school is indicative of a personal problem, something wrong in their home life. It does not mean we do not have good, dedicated, prepared teachers.
The map legend states that the trends on "dropouts" are formed from the percentage of freshman who are there as seniors. What does that say about areas where mobility is high, as in the DC metro area, California, etc? If families transfer in and out then that affects the numbers, doesn't it?
Apparently they only look at the total numbers, as in "400 students in an average freshman class, only 240 graduated". That would be the 60% mark. Below that, Johns Hopkins if considering them "dropout factories". If you have a school that regularly sees students moving in and moving out throughout their 3 - 4 years of high school, the number should equal out. It's when you have a district with a net negative number of students at the end game is when you have problems.
In looking at the data, it appears to be mainly urban districts throughout the country, although there are a lot of Charlotte - Mecklenberg schools on there and I don't know which ones are "urban" vs. "suburban".
I honestly though would not want my kids in an "environment" where dropping out was the norm. Regardless of how educated we are and how we raise our kids, why put them in the midst of massive failure?
Apparently they only look at the total numbers, as in "400 students in an average freshman class, only 240 graduated". That would be the 60% mark. Below that, Johns Hopkins if considering them "dropout factories". If you have a school that regularly sees students moving in and moving out throughout their 3 - 4 years of high school, the number should equal out.
That makes sense. DUH! I didn't really stop to think that, if "X" number of students are moving out, then close to "X" number of students are probably moving back in!
I can't put my finger on it exactly but this comment bothers me as being dangerously close to being bigoted. One needs to "...rethink the south..." because there is something wrong with poor children? Is that what you are saying? .....
We have the distinction of holding our own at the bottom 10-20% of school adequacy and performance on the SAT since my children were in school in the 80s and 90s. This is not a new phenomenon!
I don't think the article mentioned the students who drop out of high school for whatever reason, then have mom or dad sign them up for the GED class.
My thought on the poverty level here of NC public school children (I heard this report on NPR today also) is that it may have to do a lot with the influx of illegal aliens we had here over the past few years while NC was one of the states issuing driver's licences to them. Certainly most people from south of the border can't be wealthy. Just my opinion. That would definitely apply to California, also.
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People often ask why southerners think the Civil War is relevant still today. I think a study like this illustrates why, and I think the results (i.e. shock! the south is poor) are closely linked to historical events.
Poverty has been a problem in the south since the Civil War. Prior to the Civil War, slaves were property. From a purely financial perspective, the following things happened:
-The wealthiest citizens who owned a tremendous amount of property (i.e. slaves) all at once lost everything, due to emancipation
-The poor whites lost everything, due to the devaluation of all confederate money, their homes/land burned, and about 450,000 Confederate casualties of war.
-The newly freed slaves had no possessions, skills, or education.
My point being that nobody had anything after the Civil War, which people often fail to realize. Even by the 1930's, the south had barely begun to recover, and FDR aimed a lot of the "New Deal" programs at southern poverty - the TVA, FSA, etc. So here we are, not too many generations later. Perhaps illegal immigration has made it worse in the past 5 - 10 years, but looking at the big picture, I believe poverty is just our legacy from slavery and the Civil War.
Being poor is not a crime. Some kids actually benefit from doing without some things. Education however is not one of them. But doing without the material things sometimes makes poorer children aim higher and excell better than richer kids.
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That map can be deceiving!
