Understanding and Addressing the Issue of the High School Dropout Age
Appendix A: What Can Be Learned From Other States
Funding for the increase in the compulsory attendance age is difficult to assess, but there are states such as Louisiana that have found a funding solution. Louisiana increased its compulsory attendance age from 17 to 18 in 2001. The state estimated that each year 7,000 seventeen-year-old students drop out of school. The legislation requires that these students remain in school but provides them with a choice in school setting. The state estimated that $5,319 would be spent per child in FY 2001–02 for these returning students and that the costs be shared between the state and local school districts on 65-percent/35-percent split (Louisiana State Legislature, 2001).
In January of 2003, the Montana Legislature introduced House Bill 274, which increases the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18. Approximately 2,300 students drop out each year in Montana, and the state estimates of these students, 1,125 are 16 years or older. The goal of HB 274 is to reduce by one third the dropout rate among students who are between the ages of 16 and18. According to these estimates, 375 students would remain in school who would otherwise drop out. It is important to point out that for this fiscal note, the state assumes school districts will not attempt to locate students who have dropped out in prior years and will focus their efforts on maintaining students who are currently enrolled. The bill specifies that state monies fund 61 percent of the high school per-pupil cost, which is an estimated $3,123. If 375 high school students are retained every year as a result of this legislation, the state will spend an additional $1,171,125 in K–12 funding beginning in FY 2005 (Montana State Legislature, 2003).
Indiana requires students who want to leave school before reaching 18 to sign a withdrawal form along with their parents and the school principal. Students in Maine can get a waiver to leave early if they have parental permission in writing or have been approved for a program of suitable work-study by the school principal and the local school board (Lohman, 2000).
Pennsylvania has passed laws that allow parents to be fined up to $300 for truancy and require parents to pay court costs or be sentenced to completing a parenting education program. If the parents are not convicted and the child continues to be truant, the child may be fined up to $300 or be assigned to an adjudication alternative program (Erie County Bar Association, 2003).
In 1999, Hazel Park became the first district in Michigan to threaten jail for parents of truant students (Kurth, 2001). In Pennsylvania, truant students may have their driving privileges removed for 90 days for the first offense of truancy and 6 months for the second offense. Students who do not have a license are prohibited from applying for a learner's permit for 90 days for the first offense and 6 months for the second offense. Kentucky and North Carolina have the same policy.
In Connecticut, resources are made available to students who return to school after dropping out so that they can make the transition back into school. Connecticut has also enacted into law the opportunity for those 18 and above who are returning to school to attend adult education programs. Louisiana has created a provision in its legislation that requires school districts to create individual plans of education to maximize the potential of at-risk students and create an atmosphere that is comfortable as well as learning intensive.
House Bill 179 in Georgia would increase the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17. The current legislation was read and introduced in the Assembly Education Committee. The General Assembly has approved a law that would keep teens who have dropped out of school from being able to drive. The result of this legislation has resulted in thousands of license suspensions, but it has not been enacted long enough to realize its impact on the dropout rate (Salzer, 1999).
