CALIFORNIA — Governor Signs Dropout-Prevention Bill
Oct 11th 2009
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a dropout-prevention bill on Sunday that will help California address its dangerously high dropout rate. Senate Bill 651 (Romero and Steinberg) passed the Legislature with strong bipartisan support in early September. Since then, law enforcement leaders around the state have been urging the governor to enact this legislation.
“Dropout prevention is crime prevention. Schools need better tools for identifying potential dropouts so they can target interventions at the kids who need them most,” said Los Angeles Sheriff Leroy Baca, Chairman of the Board of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids– a bipartisan, anti-crime organization led by thousands of sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys and victims of violence.
According to 2007-08 data from the California Department of Education, the state’s average dropout was 18.9 percent. Studies show that high school dropouts are three and one-half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested and more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison.
SB 651 requires the California Department of Education to produce an annual report on dropouts that highlights dropout trends and helps identify early warning signs, like truancy and grade repetition, so that schools can effectively target interventions to help ensure that students at risk of dropping out don't fall through the cracks.
This measure will also maximize the effective use of California’s improving educational data system, and help keep public attention on the dropout problem and what progress is being made in addressing the crisis. It also will finally implement legislation enacted two years ago to discourage schools from “pushing out” struggling students – including by letting them drop out – in order to boost school-wide test scores. SB 651 removes an unnecessary barrier to incorporating dropout rates and test scores of students who transfer to alternative schools into school Academic Performance Index rankings.
More than 130 law enforcement leaders and crime victims statewide signed a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger supporting SB 651. Click here for a list of signatories.
A summary of SB 651 is online at: http://www.fightcrime.org/ca/SB651_Summary.pdf
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Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California is a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization led by hundreds sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and victims of violence. Its mission is to take a critical look at the research about what really works to keep kids from becoming criminals. Among the strategies proven to be effective are preschool, after-school, dropout-prevention, child abuse and neglect prevention programs, and intensive interventions for juvenile offenders. www.fightcrime.org/ca
