Dropout program's big 1st year
More than $10 million was raised and 1,400 slots added by Project U-Turn. But only a few youths are back in class.
The project announced a year ago to address Philadelphia's school dropout problem has raised more than $10 million from government and foundations, added 1,400 slots in programs to get youth back in school, and raised awareness of the situation.
Education officials yesterday celebrated the initial year of success for Project U-Turn, but also continued to sound the alarm that about half of ninth graders fail to graduate on time.
During the last year, a hotline fielded more than 1,554 calls from youths who wanted to return to school, but as of two weeks ago, the project has been able to get only about 10 percent, or 158, of them back in class, illustrating how intractable the problem remains.
Waiting lists, lack of a flexible schedule, work and child-care issues were among the barriers that surfaced, said Laura Shubilla, president of Philadelphia Youth Network, which is leading the consortium running the effort. The project still is working to try to match the other students with programs that meet their needs.
"With all that has been done, there's still a lot to do," Shubilla said yesterday morning at Philadelphia School District headquarters, addressing a gathering of dozens of state and city dignitaries, including Mayor-elect Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak.
Project U-Turn stunned the community with the release of its report a year ago that found only about half of the city's ninth graders in public school graduate in four years.
Specifically, it found that between 48 and 54 percent of the students who started ninth grade between 2000 and 2005 got their diploma in four years. The rates improved to between 61 and 63 percent after six years. The rest dropped out without earning diplomas.
The study is considered the gold standard because it followed students from ninth grade, giving the district an accurate view of its dropout problem.
Officials said yesterday that they had no updated numbers to measure the impact of the work so far, but that they were committed to providing annual numbers, with the earliest results likely to come in June.
Among the results of the effort, the school district is establishing three schools with a total of 300 seats for high school students who are older than average for their grade and who have dropped out or are in danger of dropping out. One is already opened, and two others will start in January. One of the schools will be for students returning from juvenile detention and will include career and technology training.
Seventy-five seats were added in a "Bridge to Education" program for high school students reading below the sixth-grade level.
Other programs to be expanded include General Equivalency Diploma preparation classes, occupational skills training, and college and career awareness.
The number of slots for programs to help dropouts or students at risk of dropping out has been raised to 4,200, with 5,000 remaining the goal, Shubilla said. Much of the $10 million raised is being used to add the slots, but also will pay for dropout-prevention specialists, research and data analysis, and other initiatives.
The project also has resulted in policy changes at the city and state level that make it easier for parenting teens and those returning from juvenile detention to attend school.
Other plans are under way.
The school district will open a "reengagement center" for youths who want to reenroll in school.
And the state has provided grants to eight other communities to launch an effort similar to Project U-Turn to create a statewide network of dropout-prevention efforts. Philadelphia also received a grant. Delaware County, the Pittsburgh region, and Allentown-Lehigh Valley are among the other communities to be in the network.
Sandra Dungee Glenn, chairwoman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, said the district would work with Project U-Turn to lower the dropout rate.
"We're committed to the goal of having at least 85 percent graduate from high school," she said.
Other priorities include smaller high schools and smaller class sizes that offer students more individualized attention, she said.
Solving the dropout problem "is a matter of will, as opposed to a matter of ideas or even resources," Dungee Glenn said.
Shubilla, however, emphasized that the district needed more funding. A state study released last month said the district should get an additional $1 billion.
State Rep. James Roebuck (D., Phila.), who heads the House Education Committee and attended yesterday's event, said that he wanted to bring the district more money but that it would be difficult.
Getting rid of property taxes continues to be a theme in Harrisburg, and those are the taxes that fund schools, he said.
"You're talking about raising taxes, and that is the real crux of the issue," he said. "Where do you get the money? There aren't very many sources."
Efforts to Ease Dropout Crisis
Since October 2006, when a study described Philadelphia's dropout crisis, the following steps have been taken:
1,400 high school program slots added.
A hotline received more than 1,554 calls from students looking to return to school; only 158 are back in school.
Three accelerated high school programs for older students added.
$10 million raised from government and foundations to address the problem.
System put in place to reconnect dropouts with school options.
SOURCE: Project U-TurnEndText
To read the dropout crisis reports and listen to Inquirer interviews with students, go to http://go.philly.com/dropouts
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