The high school dropout rate in the United States has become a serious problem. Data show that about 25 percent of all public high school students fail to graduate with their class.
When students drop out they normally do so within a year or two of finishing high school, and studies show that nearly all high school dropouts later regret their decision. The employment outlook for high school dropouts is especially dim since most jobs require a high school diploma.
Better paying jobs that require a college degree are effectively unattainable. High school dropouts are more likely than others to be unemployed and often fall into lives of poverty, crime, and broken homes. Society as a whole suffers too from a loss of productivity and higher costs of health care, social services, and increased incarceration.
The majority of states, including Maryland, operate under compulsory attendance laws enacted more than 100 years ago that allow students to drop out of high school when they are 16 or 17 years old.
Times have changed significantly since these laws were put into place, as college degrees have become more essential for anyone who wants to participate in our country’s workforce.
State attendance laws have simply failed to keep up with the changing times. Studies have shown that states could help reduce the dropout rate by raising the compulsory school attendance age under state law.
This step alone would not entirely solve the dropout problem, but it would help. In recent years, more and more states have been passing or introducing legislation to raise their compulsory attendance laws and hopefully more states will follow suit.
Legislation is currently pending in the Maryland General Assembly to raise the compulsory high school attendance age to 18. The current state law, enacted in 1902, requires students to attend high school until they are 16 years old. Students are thereby allowed to drop out of high school before they reach the typical graduation age.
Last month the Maryland State Youth & College Division, NAACP, submitted a resolution to the Maryland State Conference of Branches, NAACP in support of the pending legislation in the Maryland General Assembly to raise the compulsory high school attendance age. This action is commendable.
At a time when two-thirds of high paying jobs require a college education it makes no sense for an outdated state law to make it easier for students to avoid the prerequisite to college, which is a high school diploma.
The Allegany County Branch, NAACP enthusiastically applauds the action taken by our young members in support of the pending legislation in the state of Maryland. The time to change this law is now.
Richard W. Jones
Communications chair
Allegany County Branch, NAACP
Cumberland
Opinion
Raise mandatory school attendance age to 18
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