Persuasive Essay On High School Dropouts

With high school dropout rates currently at an unknown high and with the inability to keep track of how many there are there is definitely cause for concern and question as to why so many children are starting high school and not graduating. What is the reason? Is it them, the parents or the educational system; who is to blame and what can we do to try and change the decisions of future dropouts? With various changes within the state and school systems, teachers and schools can be up to date with the latest technology. For example the $2 billion estimated revenue California will profit because of the recent passing of propositions 56 and 64 could make a huge impact on the educational system; or offering students incentives for attending school,

Classes are so large there is no room or time for students and teachers to personally connect. A teacher is teaching five, six or even seven periods a day with up to forty students in a class. Teachers are taught to talk to students and to identify when there is something wrong, such as a bad home situation or problems with school, but how can they identify situations when they are teaching anywhere from 200 to 300 students in any given day. “[Because] High schools...[have become] like factories and...[not] like learning communities”(Lachat 5). If schools were more like learning communities less students would have to dropout of school because of “Adult responsibilities...such as becoming a parent, getting married, or holding down a job” (Center for Public Education) and less likely to experience “[bad] Educational experiences... [such as] Low grades, low test scores, Fs in English or math, falling behind in course credits, and being retained... high rates of absenteeism or truancy, poor classroom behavior, less participation in extracurricular activities, and bad relationships with teachers and peers” (Center for Public Education). The benefits of decreasing dropouts are astronomical from tax revenues to crime reduction and unemployment rates (Center for Public Education). “Dropouts [can] cost the nation $200 - $300 billion annually in lost wages and taxes, as well as criminal justice and social service costs… California noted that high school dropouts, who are unable to access jobs in the increasingly high-tech economy, cost the state $1.1 billion annually in costs of juvenile crime