Letters: May 8, 2006

America's Dropouts: Who's to Blame?

Students. Teachers. Parents. TV. The Education President. Zero expectations. Feverish expectations. Our story on high school dropouts, as seen through the prism of small-town Shelbyville, Ind., brought plenty of mail--and lots of theories about who's at fault and how to help America's latest lost generation

I'm in my fourth year of teaching high school art, and I agree that there is a crisis in education [April 17]. I see kids wearing $150 shoes but complaining that they can't afford pencils or notebooks. Another problem is the antiquated way the school day remains set up. Seven to eight 50-minute class periods are less effective than three to four 90-minute classes. Alternative schools (not just for bad kids) and vocational training are imperative for solving the problem. Also, we should allow students to go to school part-time and work part-time. If their grades go down, they won't be able to keep their jobs. We have got to be as creative in our approach to education as we want our children to be.

LOURDES S. GUERRERO Chicago

Your article notes that many students drop out of school because they are bored. That is probably because our culture believes learning should always be fun and entertaining. Dropouts will find out what real boredom is like when they wind up in monotonous, dead-end jobs. But a wide range of abilities and talents exists among people. We made a big mistake when vocational education was de-emphasized or phased out.

JAMES PULLEN, ED.D. St. Louis, Mo.

I have a B.A. in History and am in the process of obtaining my teaching credentials. I am also a high school dropout. There was some encouragement for me to leave, but I made the decision. I was too smart for my own good--and too angry. After 10 years of lousy jobs, I dropped back in. My goal now is to help students avoid the foolish mistake I made 17 years ago. Like Sarah Miller in your story, I was worried that I would "look stupid," but I finally worked up the courage to go back. To Sarah I offer this advice: it is not too late to go back to school. There will be times when you feel like you won't make it; they will pass. Have faith in your abilities. You can do it.

ROBERT COWLES Las Vegas

This may come as a surprise, but I and many of my teacher colleagues don't believe in compulsory education. We'd much rather spend our precious time and resources on students who want to be in the classroom. We cannot afford to be surrogate parents to the wayward. I observed that the parent factor was noticeably absent from your article. When parents start acting like grownups and force their children to be accountable, perhaps then things will change.

JAMES V. WINTERMOTE Spring Creek, Nev.