Dropouts

Article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/dropouts/

Detailed Reaction:
Being a dropout is actually becoming normal for teenagers in high school. It usually starts off with the dropout failing all his/her classes because of excessive absences and/or failing test scores and project grades. Then, after the future dropout has become completely fed up, he/she decides to finally drop out of school and pursue a GED, or General Equivalency Degree. This degree is the equivalent of a local or regents high school diploma and it allows the owner to attend college and become a part of the workforce.

However, the article states that not all dropouts do what they initially intended to do. I agree, because i have seen dropouts say that they will get a GED and apply to community colleges so that they can get a associates degree and transfer to a 4 year college to get a bachelor's degree, and they ended up not achieving the GED. Studies also show that among dropouts are pregnant teens, delinquency, substance abuse, underage alcohol consumption and criminals. I don't think students should really drop out of school if they have a choice. High school diplomas aren't frowned upon like equivalency diplomas when applying to colleges. Preferences are given to the holders of high school diplomas in the pool of applicants for seats in a college or university. It's also the same thing with jobs. Employers prefer hiring actual high school graduates over GED holders.

However, if a person were to have no choice but to drop out, i think that person should pursue at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited college. CUNY and SUNY colleges are great for bachelor's degrees. There are opportunity programs for educationally and economically disadvantaged students, such as the EOP for State colleges/universities (such as SUNY), HEOP for private colleges/universities, and the SEEK/college discovery program which is for CUNY schools. Dropouts, in my opinion, are perfect candidates for meeting the educationally disadvantaged requirement of these programs. It's because of the existence of these programs that I believe dropouts still have the potential of High school graduates.