Mayor’s Report
Week of February 14, 2005
Keeping Young People in School
In addition to our work here at the Borough, I feel it is important to have my lead staff involved with organizations at a state level as well. This allows us to have a voice in policy decisions that can have a real effect on lives in rural Alaska. All to often, that voice is not present in planning and policy decisions.
I sit on the Alaska Municipal League Board of Directors and the Beluga Whale Committee. Until recently, I was also a member of the Alaska Rural Justice Law Enforcement Task Force. Public Services Director Tom Bolen is a member of the State Emergency Response Commission.
Lee Stoops, our Economic Development Director, is an appointee to both the State Resource Development Council and the Youth Advisory Council to the Alaska Workforce Investment Board. He attended a semi-annual meeting of the Youth Advisory Council in Anchorage last week and came back with some interesting observations.
At this time, the Workforce Investment Board provides over $2,200,000 in youth related grants to 21 recipients around the state that are primarily involved with tutorial assistance for those working toward a GED or vocational training. There was a consensus among those at the meeting, however, that perhaps greater emphasis should be placed on efforts to keep students in high school. Two former school principals that sit on the Council were very direct in their assessment: If kids are in school every day, they WILL learn and they WILL graduate.
A GED may reflect that a student has acquired the basic knowledge that is expected of a high school graduate, but a high school degree is undeniably better preparation for the working world. In earning a traditional degree, a student demonstrates (or should demonstrate!) the ability to arrive on time to school every day, follow instructions, meet deadlines, and interact successfully with other students. All of those traits are essential in order to be a productive employee in the future.
In schools throughout the state, and especially in our villages, we are not doing an adequate job of keeping our young people in school. It has become far too easy for 14-18 year olds to simply stop attending school because someone, whether it is their parent(s) or guardian(s), allows that to happen. In most cases, the future for dropouts is not very bright.
The problem is even greater when you consider that state funding for our school operations is tied to our enrollment. When 10 or 15 or 20 students drop out of a village school, it can cause a huge reduction in funding to our district. It means that those who do attend will not have as many teachers, teacher aides, and other assets as a result of those who have dropped out. In other words, dropouts hurt not only themselves but everyone else in the region as well.
It is time to make a real commitment to keeping every child in school until they graduate. I would like to hear ideas and proposals from villages on how we can accomplish this. The Youth Advisory Council to the Alaska Workforce Investment Board wants to hear them also.