Understanding and Addressing the Issue of the High School Dropout Age
Benefits to Increasing the Compulsory Attendance Age
States have realized the increased importance of completing a high school education for entry into postsecondary education and the labor market, but the high school completion rate has only shown minimal gains over the last three decades and has shown no increase throughout the 1990s (Kaufmann et al., 2000). Changing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 is one strategy states are employing in an attempt to reduce dropout rates. Within the last four years, numerous states have considered legislation to increase the compulsory attendance age. New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, New York, Texas, and Vermont have recently passed such legislation. The following table ranks high school dropouts in 2000 from Midwestern states that have compulsory attendance age regulated at 18.
| Percent of Teens Who Are High School Dropouts (Ages 16-19) in 2000 | ||
|---|---|---|
| State | National Rank | Dropout Rate Percentage |
| Minnesota | 2 | 5% |
| Wisconsin | 7 | 7% |
| Ohio | 13 | 8% |
| (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2003) | ||
The Pasadena Independent School District in Texas has seen positive results in decreasing its dropout rate by raising the compulsory attendance age. The state allowed school districts to raise the dropout age from 16 to 17, and this provided districts with "some teeth" to their anti-dropout plans (Schneider, 2000). In addition to raising the age limit, districts—through attendance clerks and counselors—kept excellent tracking records of students who left school and encouraged them to enroll into a GED program or re-enroll back into the school district. For example, in 1998–99, a report from the Texas Education Agency commended Pasadena's intermediate school district (Grades 7–12) for achieving a record low annual dropout rate of 1.6 percent.
The next table presents the compulsory attendance ages for other states in the Midwest, along with the year the attendance laws were established.
| Compulsory Attendance Laws | ||
|---|---|---|
| State | Enactment | Age Limits |
| Illinois | 1883 | 6 - 16* |
| Indiana | 1897 | 7 - 16 |
| Iowa | 1902 | 6 - 16 |
| Michigan | 1871 | 6 - 16** |
| Minnesota | 1885 | 7 - 18 |
| Ohio | 1877 | 6 - 18 |
| Wisconsin | 1879 | 6 - 18 |
|
(Infoplease.com, 2003) *Illinois: 2003 Legislature introduced House Bill 2584, which would increase the legal dropout age to 18. **Michigan: 2003 Legislature introduced House Bill 4128, which would increase the legal dropout age to 18. |
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Increasing the attendance age is an issue that has garnered support across the country, and in 2002 six states made the push to amend their laws. In states with successful legal passage of new compulsory attendance laws, such as Louisiana and Connecticut, similar language and processes were implemented. In all cases, parents or other persons having control of a child under the age of 18 can withdraw the child from school but must do so with legal written consent. The consent makes clear the decision of the parent to remove the child from school and that the school has offered to provide additional resources to keep the student in school.
Funding for an increase in the compulsory attendance age is difficult to assess and varies widely across states. States such as Louisiana and Montana have outlined fiscal policy analysis that details each state's estimated expenditures for increasing the compulsory attendance age. An explanation of fiscal spending, as well as additional examples of what other states have done to implement laws in support of increasing the compulsory attendance age, can be found in Appendix A.
