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In last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama proposed something radical, that dropping out of high school no longer be allowed. But that might be complicated. Every school district has tried numerous solutions to the dropout dilemma without success. The problem prompted Russell Rumberger to write a book called Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It.

Rumberger is director of the California Dropout Research Project, and he currently serves as provost in the Office of the President at the University of California. He recently talked about his theory that high schools need to promote alternatives to college – and that some people might be better served not getting a higher education at all. KALW's Ben Trefny sat down with Youth Radio’s Robyn Gee to discuss this idea of education.

This story was produced by Youth Radio with support from the New Options Project and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Over the past thirty years, school discipline tactics have hanged drastically. According to a study out of Texas called, Breaking School Rules, the number of student suspensions in the U.S. increased from 1.7 million in 1974 to 3.3 million in 2006. 

Part of the increase is due to legislation, like the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, and the Gun Free School Zones Act. Both went into effect in the 90's, and schools saw a rise of zero-tolerance discipline policies in schools. However, researchers, educators, and policymakers are looking at the current suspension numbers and seeing problems with the population of students that is hit the hardest by these suspensions.

According to the Texas study, the rate of black students suspended at least once rose from 6 to 15 percent, while the rate of white students suspended rose from 3 to 5 percent.

A recent Washington Post article reports that more than 35,000 students in the Washington suburbs were suspended or expelled from school last year, and more than half of them were black students. In addition, 71 percent of all suspensions for insubordination were given to black students, which means the offenses were more likely to be subjective, as opposed to offenses like being caught with a firearm on campus.

The federal government recently announced the “Supportive School Discipline Initiative” to address the high numbers of suspensions and the “school to prison pipeline,” by ensuring that discipline practices in schools maintain students’ civil rights and keep students in school as much as possible.

Danny Whittaker is a school counselor at Lovonya DeJean Middle School in Richmond, CA who sees the problem first hand. In 2008, DeJean had a violence-suspension rate of 41 percent. When Whittaker accepted the position, he thought he would be doing academic counseling, but has accepted his role as school disciplinarian. “Honestly, I don’t have time to do both... If kids need to talk to me about personal stuff, sorry I don’t have time.” said Whittaker. At the beginning of this school year, there was at least one fight per week, he said.

This piece was originally published on L.A. Youth.

A new program called the Diploma Project is trying to reduce dropout rates at Los Angeles Unified School District schools. The Diploma Project, which is funded by the federal government, has dropout prevention counselors in six middle schools and six high schools.

The high school counselors find students who have dropped out and work with them to get them back in school. They can either re-enroll at their high school or in a program where they can make up their credits, like adult school, continuation school or independent study.

We talked to students from Fremont and Gardena, two high schools that are part of the Diploma Project, about why they dropped out and what helped them return. They were all thankful for the Diploma Project for helping them get back on track to graduate.

Editor Mike Fricano: Why did you drop out?

Maycoll Arata, 20, Gardena Adult School graduate: I was too busy partying, clubbing, going out and having fun instead of studying and doing homework.

Cindy Ávalos, 18, Alternative Education Work Center (AEWC), an independent study program on the Gardena High campus: When I was in ninth grade I didn’t know it was that important to graduate. I didn’t go to class, I didn’t pay attention at all. In 11th grade I realized it was important and I noticed I wasn’t going to be able to graduate.

Mayra Frias, 19, Gardena HS: For me it was a personal problem … Me and my mom would fight every day. That’s when I decided to drop out, which I did when I was in 11th grade for two months. I started looking for a job and I never found one. Then I decided to come back.

Rosario Franco, 18, Gardena AEWC: Since ninth grade I started ditching and I guess it becomes a habit … Every year I would be like, “I’m going to do better next year” but then the next year I’ll go some days but then I’ll miss school other days and I’ll be like “When I miss out, it’s better.” So I started falling back. My senior year I went for three weeks. I was like, “I’m behind credits, I know I’m not going to graduate. Why go and waste my time?”

Curtis Hess, 19, Gardena Adult School: I dropped out of school because I was kicking it with the wrong crowd, gang bangers.

Abigael Perez-Rodriguez, 18, Gardena AEWC: When I entered ninth grade I started hanging out with the wrong people. I was getting high, drunk. I started ditching more and more. We used to hop on Metro and go to downtown, Hollywood, do whatever we want, drink a couple 40s, have fun. I stopped going to school my senior year.

Brigitte Olguin, 16, Fremont HS: In ninth grade my dad was sick. He was almost dying so all that depression got to me and I missed school. I went with friends to try to feel better. It stopped at 11th [grade] because I got caught. They told me, “Why are you missing school? You have a future to go to.” I don’t want to be a low-life. I want to have a good car, a home. If I do good in school I’ll be the first one to graduate in my family. That motivates me to go to school.

President Barack Obama gave education a fair share of attention during the State of the Union address last night.

The talking points:

- Require all students to stay in high school until they are 18

- Extend the tuition tax credit

- States should make higher education a priority in their budgets

- Reward good teachers and keep them on the job

- Give schools flexibility so they do not have to teach to the test

Mr. Obama has said in the past that he hopes the United States will be number one in the world when it comes to having the highest percentage of college graduates. “Higher education can’t be a luxury -– it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.” But “college for all” is a hot topic right now.

Some educators argue that not everyone wants to go to college, or will necessarily succeed in college, and policy makers need to define success more broadly beyond academic achievement tests and AP tests and include valuing job-ready skills in students. Instead of making vocational education and career and technical education an option in high schools, Obama wants to address job training by creating partnerships between community colleges and businesses to train Americans with specific skills that lead directly to jobs. As of now, Mr. Obama believes business leaders can’t find American workers with the right skills to hire.

The video below shows journalist Roland Martin interviewing Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, about new data showing that black students are being suspended at higher rates than others. The data comes from a study done by the Yale University Child Study Center.

The study shows that black students, no matter their income receive less attention, harsher punishments, and lower marks in school than white students.

Watching this video made me think about the challenges that I, as well as my siblings, faced in school. There could have been other ways to help us or discipline us, but our schools weren’t aware of them.

Dianis says, “Our schools are not using common sense when it comes to the behavior of children.” I agree 100 percent. There are times when suspension is unnecessary.

My little brother, who is 13 years old, was suspended for five days for play-fighting a block away from his school. He and the other student were having fun after class off-campus, but still got suspended. What happened to calling a child’s parents? Is that method not valuable anymore? I expected someone to call my mama or at least give my brother a warning, but suspension is what they had in mind.

I feel worried for my brother and other black students. They’re becoming part of a static based on skin color. My brother is a bright student so I hope this suspension doesn’t mess up his reputation and cause teachers to look down on him, like Dianis says in the interview.

This story was originally published on L.A. Youth. 

Author's name not given to protect their identity. 

I’ve always worked hard in school because I want to go to college and be successful. But because I’m not a citizen, my hard work could be for nothing. My parents don’t have the money to pay for college and I can’t get federal financial aid because I don’t have a Social Security number. In October, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Dream Act, which will allow undocumented students like me to get financial help to attend public colleges in California. This made me feel hopeful for my future. However, the state Dream Act doesn’t provide a path to citizenship. Even if I graduate from college, would I have to work in a low-wage job? Will my status prevent me from obtaining my dream job as a journalist?

Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

A new film on the education circuit offers a new assessment of the answer to America's public education woes. Simply put: our current treatment of the teaching profession is killing all prospect of growth. American Teacher -- which is making its debut in select screening locations around the country -- attempts to emphasize that good teachers in a variety of school settings are the linchpin to improving American schools.

The movie is one component of The Teacher Salary Project, which hopes to document the stories of teachers and assert that teachers are undervalued in American society in terms of compensation. The book, Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of American Teachers, written by Ninive Calegari, Daniel Moulthrop and Dave Eggers, inspired the making of the film, which was produced by  Calegari, Eggers, and Vanessa Roth, and is narrated by Matt Damon.

According to the project’s website, “46 percent of public school teachers leave the profession within the first five years of being in the classroom. Salaries and stress are among the top reasons teachers say they leave.” I became a classroom teacher at age 22, but left the position after two years.  As I watched the movie American Teacher, memories of my own teaching experience flooded back -- arriving at school before sunrise and leaving after dark, just to go home and work some more.

Calegari was a classroom teacher in Massachusetts and California. After three years in a Marin school, she left to teach at a charter school in San Francisco.  She started working with Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work Of A Staggering Genius, to start a literacy center in San Francisco.

The film looks at five stellar teachers from across the country who are revered by their school communities, and what challenges they confront every day to continue teaching. One teacher has two secondary jobs to supplement his teacher salary. Another returns to teaching just six weeks after giving birth, and frantically looks for places to use a breast pump during passing periods. The movie also interviews experts who speak to the lack of support for new teachers, and the disparity between how teachers are treated in America versus other countries. Turnstyle spoke with Calegari about producing the film.

Turnstyle: What was your strategy for tackling the huge issue of teaching?

Calegari: Our strategy is to elevate the teaching profession and shine a light on good and excellent teachers. I think when you are focused on attacking the bottom, bad teachers, even good teachers get offended and feel that it dishonors and denigrates the excellent work that they do on a day-to-day basis, so I think it’s a really important strategy to be positive and think about the excellent work that is happening and try to amplify that, and make a profession that is attractive to college kids. My goal has always been that the teaching profession is so exciting and so attractive that college students would stay up at night and worry about whether they could become a teacher just like they would worry about whether they could get into medical school.

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Professor Diane Ravitch is a big voice in education policy and a huge critic of No Child Left Behind. But here's the interesting part -- as former Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush, she helped promote the same policies she's now criticizing.

Ravitch's latest book is called, The Death and Life of the Great American School System. In the book, she details why she drastically reversed her position on school reform. While she used to push for testing, charters and privatization, now she's worried these efforts are making things worse and hurting students.

As an education reform veteran, Ravitch can tell you change isn't easy, and it isn't kind. Here are her thoughts on what's wrong with school reform today.

This story was produced by Philly Youth Radio, a project started in response to bullying and violence in Philadelphia schools.

By Shayla Torres

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Violence can be found in something as simple as a No. 2 pencil.

I was called down to the peer-mediation room, where we peer-mediators step in to resolve fights between fellow students. The room had one table in the center, surrounded by four chairs. I sat at the middle of the table and wondered who’d be walking through those doors. And what problem would escort them in.

The door opened with a creek. I stood up - all 4’11’’ of me and saw one girl as big as a line backer, with her white button up shirt torn a bit and scratches ripped across her face. She was brought in by Rico, our school police officer, who left after placing her at one end of the table.

Then a skinny girl walked in, who was at least 5’9’’. Her braids had been yanked out of her head, left and right. Bruises claimed random spaces of her body and her left cheek was puffed up, as if her molars had been pulled out. I could easily see that she had lost the battle. I was kind of relieved when my co-mediator, Christian appeared, because I was no longer alone with them.

I asked my first question: “So girls, why are we here today?” They answered almost in unison: “She stole my pencil.” At that moment, Christian and I looked at each other. “Really, a pencil?” For twenty minutes, they unloaded their rage. I thought we would never get to the root of anything. Then, in the middle of their sage, I imagined:

“Ding Ding Ding. Let’s get ready to rumble! Welcome to Math Class 208, where the classroom champions match up for the fight of the semester! We have the Linebacker pacing on one end of the ring and her opponent standing calm, but assertive. The Line backer strikes first, snatching the pencil from her skinny opponent- who’s a fighter and holds her ground. But the fight gets out of control! The thin one is finally knocked out, unconscious! Ding Ding Ding.”

The following originally aired on KCBS

By: Chris McCoy 

 The months following graduation have been a precious time for me to reflect on what I want to do with my life. What kind of work should educated young people like me aim for and what wages must we expect entering the work force?

I am not returning to school in the fall for the first time in seventeen years. I don’t have classes to enroll in or textbooks to buy, but pressure is building up for me to move forward and launch my career--whether it be as a poet, public servant, actor or journalist.

Now I’m starting to post my resume online and submit applications to organizations I respect. I’ve been getting myself out there, volunteering for campaigns and media outlets to get more experience and to stay active.

But will all that, I know an undergraduate degree may not immediately translate into a high paying job. During this transitional phase, I’m making sure to keep my job search swag.