When school bells next month signal the start of another year, millions will head back to class, but others who have dropped out will stay at home. Alma Powell, a Birmingham native and daughter of a former Parker High School principal, leads America’s Promise Alliance. This non profit is focused on increasing the nationwide high graduation rate to 90 percent.
High School Success
“Many of the jobs that existed for people who did not have a high school education do not exist any more,” Powell says. “Without a high school education, there’s just not any where for you to go. Plus high school dropouts cost the nation thousands of dollars a year.”
The magic word for the success of each student is community.
“People talk about what was it like with segregated schools. I say they were probably better off because they were surrounded by people who cared about them and who cared and knew that this was mandatory that they have this degree of education,” she says.
Parker High School covered vocational courses as well as the traditional academic courses. Everyone graduated with a way to make a living, even if they were not planning on going to college. The vocational classes prepared them to go out into the world, and this was possible by the support of the community and educators.
Student Success and Graduation
Boredom, at many times, is what gets in the way of a student’s success. Understanding this and having parents that realize the importance of this is what can make a difference.
“We have lost our focus a bit, I think partially with the continued education reform efforts, we just keep changing tactics, and people fall through the cracks,” Powell says.
When the Grad Nation campaign launched six years ago, the high school graduation rate in this country overall was only 70 percent. Fifty percent of African American and Hispanic kids were not graduating at all.
“The biggest problem is in communities –lower income communities,” she says. “But I have to tell you; it’s not just low-income kids who drop out of school.”
Drop outs aren’t typically associated with middle and upper-middle class communities, but they do exist. “But the thing about them dropping out is that they will have a safety net or most likely will. Those poor kids who drop out don’t have a safety net,” she says.
America’s Promise Alliance has set a goal of 90 percent graduation rate throughout the country by 2020.
“It is not unreasonable. It is not going to be easy. It will probably be the hardest portion of the campaign,” Powell says. “Then once you achieve it, you have to always fight to keep it.”