Dropout Prevention

This past October, Governor David A. Paterson hosted the Governor's Summit on School Engagement and Dropout Prevention, in Rochester, NY.  Sponsored by America's Promise Alliance, an initiative chaired by Alma Powell (wife of Colin, former U.S. secretary of state and Alliance founder) and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the summit drew together government agencies, policy makers, researchers, educators and students.

The goal of the summit is to address the growing nationwide concern about the high dropout rate that has become a national crisis, with a full third of students leaving school.  America's Promise Alliance looks at this as a broader issue, with steep economic ramifications.  According to Pedro Noguera, PhD, a speaker at the Rochester summit, the effect the dropout rate has on the economic health of an area is commensurate to the issue of abandon houses in a neighborhood; without a tax-paying base, everything slides downhill.

Locally, Joy McDuffie is working hard to organize a summit here in Buffalo for the coming spring.  Currently a GIS analyst with the Western New York Law Center, McDuffie works closely with members of the Joint Schools Construction Board and she's addressed the issue of abandoned housing in a study she's named Neighborhoods of Choice.  Now that she's seeing a fuller picture of how housing around school affects the students and families who live there, McDuffie is turning her sights to the students in those schools.

"Look, our future is dependent on their future," McDuffie says.  "If their future is not bright, ours will be dim.  We need to see to it that these students are educated as doctors, lawyers, economists, scientists and right on down the line."

As for bringing a summit to Buffalo, McDuffie says, "Buffalo needs to be in on the national dialogue.  We have a 30 percent poverty and illiteracy rate, and we have a 40 percent dropout rate.  This affects everyone.  This is a social justice issue as well as an economic one."

With April of 2009 as a target date for the summit, McDuffie has amassed a group of interested parties such as Superintendent of Buffalo Public Schools Dr. James Williams, BPS Associate Superintendent of Academic Support Services William Keresztes, Deputy Mayor Donna Brown, Read to Succeed Community Outreach/Marketing Coordinator Jaime Swygert. City of Buffalo Commissioner of Community Services & Recreational Programming Tanya Perrin-Johnson; City of Buffalo Commissioner of Human Resources Karla Thomas, Janique Curry, Deputy Regional Representative for Gov. David A. Paterson; Division Director Jane Ogilvie, for Erie 1 BOCES Education Campus; Deputy Secretary for Education to the Governor Duffy Palmer, Kaleida Community Liaison Barbara A. Franklin, with hoped-for participation from a higher learning institution.

"We're coordinating all of these people along with other members of the city, schools and area businesses, and Lisa Scherer of Junior Achievement called to offer support," according to McDuffie.  "These are all people who know each other, but haven't necessarily worked together.  Now they have a common goal."

The five basic promises made to students through the alliance are as follows:

• Caring Adults
• Safe Places 
• A Healthy Start 
• Effective Education 
• Opportunities to Help Others

According to the APA model, children who receive at least four of the Five Promises are much more likely than those who experience only one or zero Promises to succeed academically, socially and civically. They are more likely to avoid violence, contribute to their communities and achieve high grades in school.

And, as McDuffie says,  "When they dropout, they become a deficit rather than an asset."

McDuffie was particularly touched by the student presentations at the Rochester summit, surprised that the students want a caring adult, first and foremost.  It only stands to reason that mentoring goes a long way to helping a student achieve goals, but McDuffie didn't expect the emphasis that the students put on this themselves.  "You know what?" she says,  "We need them a lot more than they need us because in the end they are the core of our very urban fiber.  W have to see them do well."

One of the chief problems with the dropout crisis is simply in identifying the numbers with a distinction between dropouts, transfers and fifth-year seniors.  Between late reports from the state, students who aren't tracked through family moves to other school systems or countries, and the fact that fifth-year high school students are counted as non-graduates, it's hard to put a percentage on Buffalo Public School dropouts.  The 2001 Cohort (graduated June 2005 pre-Dr. Williams) was 61 percent, while the 2002 Cohort (graduated June 2006) was 65 percent.

McDuffie is looking to bring as many people on board as she can for the upcoming summit.  "We need to have student and parent participation, with the youth leading as much as possible," McDuffie states.  "We need to be part of the national summit geared toward fixing this epidemic, and we need to add components for Buffalo people only.  Also, right now we need to get on board for federal dollars because the days of handing out dollars without proposals are gone."

Canisius College has offered to host the summit, but McDuffie needs sponsors.  Those interested in sponsoring or attending the April summit should contact Joy McDuffie at joymcduffie1@aol.com