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The U.S. Department of Education  special report on high poverty schools  which was included in the 2010 Condition of Education study found that the percent of high poverty schools rose from 12 to 17 percent between the 1999-2000 and 2007-2008 school years, even before the current recession was fully felt. The percentage of public schools where more than three quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch “” a key indicator of poverty “” has increased in the past decade, and children at these schools are less likely to attend college or be taught by teachers with advanced degrees.  In all, there were 16,122 schools considered high-poverty.

Students at these schools face a number of disadvantages:

“” A smaller percentage of teachers and high-poverty elementary and secondary schools have earned at least a master’s degree and a regular professional certification than those in low poverty schools.

“” They are less likely to graduate from high school; on average, 68 percent of 12th grade students in high poverty-schools graduated with a diploma in 2007-2008, compared to 91 percent at low poverty schools. The numbers have actually gotten worse for students at high poverty schools, dropping from 86 to 68 percent since 1999-2000.

“” After graduating from a high poverty school, 28 percent enrolled in a four-year institution, compared to 52 percent of graduates from low poverty schools. And while college enrollment has increased by 8 percent since 1999-2000 for graduates from higher income schools, the numbers have remained stable for those in poor schools.

Cities were more likely to have a larger percentage of high-poverty schools. About 40 percent of city elementary schools fell into that category in 2007-2008, compared to 15 percent in towns and 13 percent in suburbs, according to the study. The report found a similar trend at the secondary school level.

The South and West had a higher percentage of public elementary schools that were high poverty than the Northeast and Midwest, 24 percent compared to 16 and 12 percent, respectively. Mississippi had the highest percentage nationwide “” 52 percent of its public elementary schools are considered high poverty. Louisiana, New Mexico, the District of Columbia and California were also pointed out as having higher percentages of low income elementary schools.

Students at high poverty schools are more likely to be minorities. Hispanic students, for example, made up 46 percent of students at high poverty elementary schools and 11 percent of students at low poverty schools in the 2007-2008 school year. White students made up 14 percent of students at high poverty elementary schools, and 75 percent at low poverty elementary schools.

High poverty schools also have a larger percentage of students with limited English proficiency.

Students at these schools had lower average scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress in reading and math than those at low poverty schools, though in some cases the achievement gap has decreased.

At this time when states need to balance their budgets and the federal government keeps on printing money, we as citizens need to remind our legislators that while children do not vote, educators do!  Schools are increasingly dealing with children who need more services and schools are expected to provide them.

There is no such thing as a high school dropout.  I have never met a high school student who has said, “I’m in high school now.  It’s time to leave.”

According to a new report from the Annie. E. Casey Foundation, the process begins by the end of the 3rd grade.  (According to a longitudinal study from the University of Arizona, it begins in kindergarten).  If we wish to reduce the number of dropouts we need to increase the number who can read proficiently by the time they are in 4th grade.  However, recent test scores on the National Assessment of Progress  two-thirds of all 4th graders are reading below that level.

I believe that the easiest way to raise reading proficiency is to build immediate safety nets into elementary schools.  The minute teachers and elementary administrators see that children are reading below basic proficiency levels, they need to mandate, Saturday reading classes or mandatory Summer Schools.

Another thing they can do is to find ways to lower school absenteeism which is the primary early warning that children will dropout.

Parents need to be brought into the paradigm shift by having their children read to them at every opportunity.

According to a new report, minorities accounted for almost 49% of U.S. births in the year ending July 1,2009, a record high. Minorities now make up more than half the population in four states (California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas) and the District of Columbia. The level of diversity varies widely from region to region “” from as high as 79 in Hawaii and 68 in California to as low as 10 in Maine and Vermont and 13 in West Virginia.

Much of the rapid growth in diversity is driven by an influx of young Hispanic immigrants, whose birthrates are higher than those of non-Hispanic whites, creating a race and ethnic chasm and a widening age gap. Record levels of births among minorities in the past decade are moving the USA a step closer to a demographic milestone in which no group commands a majority, new Census estimates show. There are more than 500 counties that have a majority of minority children. The population is changing to minority from the bottom up.  Nationwide, 48.3% of kids under age 5 are minorities, while 19.9% of people 65 and older are.

In Gwinnett County, Ga., near Atlanta, one of seven counties where minorities became the majority last year, 88% of the under-20 population was non-Hispanic white in 1990.

As our country becomes more ethnically diverse, schools are the ones being first affected.  There is a need for schools across the country to do early identification, plan to hire more bi-lingual teachers and establish more ESL classes.

Using data from the Census Bureau, researchers from the Pew Hispanic Center found that fewer Hispanic students earn a GED credential than white or black dropouts. The report found that one in 10 Hispanic students who drop out of high school go on to earn a General Equivalency Development degree.  Black students earned a GED at a rate of two in 10. For white students, the rate is three in 10.

The research organization says the lower rate among Hispanics is notable because they also have higher dropout rates: 41 percent of Latinos ages 20 or older do not have a regular high school degree, compared to 23 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites.

According to the report, the longer foreign-born Latinos without a high school degree are in the United States, the more likely they are to earn a GED.  But Hispanics born in the United States who drop out of high school are also unlikely to have a GED. The report found that only 21 percent earn the credential.

The report notes that a GED is a crucial step forward: Four in 10 students with a GED pursue additional education, compared to only 1 in 10 of those without an alternative degree. Students with a GED are also able to apply and enroll in degree-granting colleges and universities.

In a report issued by the American Association of School Administrators, school district reductions for the year 2010-2011 will result in the elimination of 275,000 employees.  The data was supplied from a survey of almost 1,500 superintendents from 49 states.  The cuts will eliminate an estimated 145,750 teachers if carried out.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees education spending, is sponsoring legislation to provide $23 billion in additional aid to states to help thwart a significant cut in education jobs.  A bill containing similar language was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives late last year.