By law, Hoosiers are required to attend high school, but should they also be required to graduate? The nation's largest teacher organization Tuesday recommended that as a way to solve the school dropout crisis.
In Indiana, as in many other states, experts argue about what the real graduation rate is. But no one denies dropouts are a problem. The dropout rate stands at than a fourth of all students nationwide, and nearly 50 percent among minorities.
The National Education Association now says a high school degree, or its equivalent, should be compulsory for all students by the time they're 21, and there should be special programs for dropouts to help them catch up.
"So many times kids don't know that they can come back because there's no place for them. We're saying we want you to come back. We're going to work with you to come back. We want you to be successful," said Reg Weaver, NEA president.
It would take mandatory education a step beyond state law now requiring school attendance until age 18. John Bridgeland, who has studied attitudes among dropouts, says many of them would re-enroll if special programs for them were available.
"The young people who are now 20 and 21 or older do not want to go back to school with 15- and 16-year-olds, they feel socially awkward in that they're going to be dumb person in the class," said John Bridgeland, author of "Silent Epidemic."
Other NEA recommendations for preventing dropouts include pre-school for all students and all day kindergarten, more options for getting the equivalent of a high school degrees and better monitoring of student progress.
Not the least of what the NEA is calling for is $10 billion in new federal spending over ten years toward helping students graduate.
Most estimates put Indiana's graduation rate between 70 and 75 percent.
