Announcing: The 100% Graduation Rate Program

Guaranteed or your money-back refund after 4-years, if your child does not complete high school. We dare, no double dare any high school drop-out prevention program in America to make this claim. According to the US Department of Education only 1 program is even qualified to accept this offer. With between one to two million students not graduating on time each year, theirs only 1, one, program that is deemed successful enough to motivate and inspire students who have been in our educational system and said that is enough. Theirs one program to try to prevent 26 million students from dropping-out of high school each year, one!

Why would you claim we have a drop-out crisis when; there is only one solution that our government is willing to fund to deal with this problem? According to CBS News Report “High School Dropouts Costly for American Economy, they say that it is costing taxpayers more than $8 billion annually in public assistance programs like food stamps. They report, High school dropouts earn about $10 thousand less a year than workers with diplomas. That's $300 billion in lost earnings every year. They're also more likely to be unemployed: 15 percent are out of work versus a national average of 9.4 percent. They also are more likely to be incarcerated. Almost 60 percent of federal inmates are high school drop outs.

Surely, there has to be more than one solution to this economic killing problem. Well, that is the current conclusion provide by the US Department of Education’s evidence-base arm, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). Yet, they do say there is 11 other program’s that show positive evidence towards addressing the problem. However, seven shows no viable results towards completing school, and the other 4 that do are more geared to GED (General Equivalency Diploma) certification.  Still there is only one program that has been proven to successfully aid in high school graduation, one.

The New Jersey Minority Educational Development organization wants to make it two, with their 100% Graduation Rate Program. The program has already been identified as an evidence-base dropout prevention model by the National Dropout Prevention Center. Unlike, any other program its main focus is on at-risk minority males, which represents the nation’s highest dropout population. The program features a hundred percent job placement for their students, 69% college enrollment with a 47% retention and a 28% college graduation rate. More importantly it has a 95% high school completion rate over a ten-year period (1996-2006). All this took place in one of the nation’s poorest cities, Camden, New Jersey (which was the nation’s poorest from 2000-2006) and named the nation’s most dangerous city from 2004-2005, with only a city high school minority male high school graduation rate of 39%. Clearly, no other city in America could challenge any program model; to create a program to get a better understanding of what it takes to motivate the nation’s highest drop-out population. 

The 100% Graduation Rate Program has made its case. They have earned an opportunity to qualify as a national evidence-base program model to assist in helping young men reach their full potential with a 95 percent school completion rate; a 94% next grade promotion rate, before summer school; and a 97% successful outcome rate for staying in school. The only draw back is it didn’t reach its 100% goal promise! Maybe, if the US Department of Education needs another program model to fund to try to prevent 26 million students from dropping-out of high school each year, the 100% Graduation Rate Program can accept the money back guarantee offer.  

Education Reform Debate: Fix Poverty, You Fix Public Education

Every good lawyer knows. You never ask a question without knowing what the answer is. Even so, sometimes, there is no black or white answer, which guarantees you there is no grey area. So you have to be prepared to follow up with a leading question you think you have an answer for, to regain control for your argument.  

Truthful when you ask, why public schools are failing in low-income areas, you anticipate the response to be poverty. That’s a black or white answer. However, some charter schools have been very successful in those same areas. Grey. Therefore, the debate over education reform really has no, correct answer; Right.

After talking with Rick Meyer, professor at the University of New Mexico, maybe the grays a little shaded towards white if you annoy the factors that multiply poverty, or fade black if you’re so declined to assume a lack of intellectualism. The nature of our conversation, started with “how could he defend the current state of public schools, he said, “I don’t know, but privatization doesn’t answer the questions.” “The education reform debate has to be framed around poverty in low performing school districts.” “Rather than corporation’s contributing to these community’s economic growth; they divert the conversation into blaming the schools.” He also added that certain things could be done to enhance the system: “If they provide their resources towards helping create employment opportunities, it would help these children define themselves.”

We then discussed the merit of charter schools, and their potential towards expanding into suburban communities, in an effort to create more choices for parents. “Again we want corporation’s investing in public education, especially in areas that need resources, if they decide to invest in other areas, where achievement already exists; it kinds of defeats their purpose for wanting educational reform towards strengthening public education.”

The next topic we touched on was that, “There is no doubt the charter schools or private investment in education have helped, I pointed-out, “Look at the type of success the Harlem Zone school project has created. Meyer said, “Yes, some charter schools do real well, with good dedicated teachers, but when you have the option to choose the students, it lessens their chance for failure, so it’s unfair to compare good charter schools with regular public schools.”  

Professor Meyer commented. He feels the public education debate is heading for war, for those who want to privatize to those who want to make changes within the public education system. “I think, and am hopeful, educators and those who care about educating our children, can come together with the interest for all the children.” So, whatever offers the best avenue for adding resources rather than subtracting is the solution. However, with the current situation, we’re draining our resources that already are thin!”   

Of all the educators and investors in education in this conversation, we believe Professor Meyer, could lend a level of credibility others lack. He’s taught in the nation’s largest public education school district, New York City Department of Education, and now works with a population that represents the highest drop-outs in the country (Hispanic and Native American). His sense of where we need help helps us on this journey for the truth. Nevertheless, we know the debate doesn’t end here; it just has begun.

Addressing the Minority Communities Issues in Public Education: There’s No Business Like Public Education Business

Private educations versus Public education, money generating system versus free system, select the safest versus accepting everybody, what a bummer. One built on low-risk and high reward, the other on high risk and middle to low reward, based on the current educational environment; that has the United States ranked 17^th in global education.

The problematic issues are these debates are taking place in low income, and for the most, part single-parent residential districts. Where the American Dream is a myth, and a quick fix promise is easily sold. Who is standing up for these children? I don’t genuinely know, but I do recognize hardworking taxpayers will flip the bill.

If you performed a little investigation, you will be surprising to learn that in essence by the areas wherever charter schools are being created, less than 30 percent of those residents are chipping in to fund it. Therefore, who should really have the choice of private or public?

From a conversation, I underwent with several private company owners, about how come they were applying for school charters, they explained that this is a growth industry, and this represents why they’re so occupied in investing in education: “As a business model, they said“ this public education system thing is great! “We could risk other people’s money, with little investment of our own, and in reality, institutionalize to a greater extent, for the local district to compensate us 61% or even more, and allowing a monetary value for sports and other extracurricular activities, and even provide us with facility space. We can also help our student’s parents acquire financial aid awards to address our cost to expand our schools towards generating additional students, what a system.”

They explained, how they do not even have to observe all state guidelines; just enough to meet minimum requirements, and “with a lot of state’s increasing the percentage to monetary fund our schools up to 90%, do you understand the growing potentiality. Once again, what a system and it is completely sound!”     

“Wait till we get this thing going into the suburban areas. We could stream line credit for schools that specialize in anything a few unhappy parents desire to create.” “Academics,” never mind that, we’re just supplying a demand.”

Aren’t you concerned this practice, will embody dumbing down America? “No, those who can afford a good education can pay for it, isn’t that the America’s formula for success, the haves and have not’s. “We’re businessmen. It’s not personal. If it’s personal it’s not business.” You’ve got to love this public education business, if you love money.

Plainly, this argument comprised a one-sided discussion. Next week we’ll find out how the public sector takes in this course of action, and how they propose to reform support for a same system of rules conforms to all. We’ll be speaking with the organizers of the Save Our Schools March and National Call for Action to register their opinion.