Who owns the dropout problem?

by Dale Bohren
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 1:26 PM MST

A special report in today’s Casper Journal outlines and sheds light on a very big problem in our community: a 26.3 percent high school dropout rate.

That’s right -- in a day and age where we know for sure how much a high school or college education impacts the quality of life for the student, their future families and the community at large, one in four students drop out of school in Natrona County.

It is a stunning fact. Unfortunately, our report is unable to provide any easy answers to a lower the dropout rate, but it does provide some insight.

It is fair to say that the problem falls squarely in the lap of parents. And it certainly does. It is also fair to say the problem falls squarely in the lap of the school system. And it certainly does.

In fact, it’s not unfair to say the problem falls squarely in many areas -- lack of vocational schooling or the police and the justice system or health professionals, including physical fitness and wellness, mental health and health care professionals.

We could blame employers who hire dropouts. Maybe the problem is the law that allows a young person to legally drop out of school after his or her 16th birthday.

But the simple truth is that it is all these things. The answers lay in a committed and coordinated effort by all of the above, plus individuals like you and me.

Only a comprehensive response can impact positively the physical, social and academic needs of every child that is born and educated in Natrona County.

The problems are simply too large and complex to be adequately addressed from any single individual perspective.

A fix can be made. It has to be done. Lowering the dropout rate in Natrona County immediately impacts the student and his or her future.

But it also changes the outlook for their children and grandchildren, who likely will find themselves victimized by the circumstance of a lower quality of life and less awareness of their opportunities.

And this is one tide that raises all boats. A better educated population, whether through vocational training, a college degree or apprenticeship in a trade, breeds more opportunity for economic prosperity across the board.

Management books today would describe one of our basic problems as silos: each organization addressing the problem addresses only their part without any meaningful coordination with the other parts.

For example, the school district can address this problem itself. You can feed a hungry child in your neighborhood. The police and courts continue to maintain order and prosecute criminal activity.

Ambulance drivers and physicians continue to treat victims. Students and their parents continue to influence at-risk students and their parents.

There is an adage that says two people working together can do the work of three people working alone. So everyone can do their part and do it well, but lacking a coordinated and well-publicized community effort with a common goal to see everyone graduate, we will not have as much impact and may continue to fail 26.3 percent of our children every year.

And it’s not the children of “those people,” it’s across the board. I know of dropouts whose parents are educated and well-financed -- teachers, professionals, tradesmen and newspaper publishers.

That a 26.3 percent dropout rate is a problem in our community is painfully obvious. But it’s not unsolvable.

The same problems have been addressed successfully in other communities, so we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Those who are responsible must take immediate action.

Today, capable people in the school district are working on a comprehensive plan to lower the dropout rate in Natrona County. The key to success will be a broad understanding that this problem belongs to us all.

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