For many FAMU students attending college was a top priority after graduating from high school, but what about those students that did not complete high school?
According to a USA Today article headlined “1 in 10 schools are ‘dropout factories’,” more than 60 percent of high school students do not make it to their senior year.
The article states that the highest concentration of ‘dropout factories’ is in large cities or high-poverty rural areas in the South and Southwest. Most have a high number of minority students.
Schools with high dropout rates are not as easy to improve because some students face issues and challenges way beyond the academic level. People like Dontike Miller, 23, who attended and left two D.C. high schools on the dropout factory list, was brought up by a single mother who used drugs, and he said teachers and counselors seemed oblivious to what was going on in his life, according to the USA Today.
Teachers and other school administrators must realize that as mentors, they have taken on the responsibility to guide and care for the needs of their students; every child needs an education.
We feel that educators should have the desire to help better their students no matter the circumstance, whether it’s investing in better textbooks, hiring new and motivated staff or just simply taking the time out to relate to the students.
No high school should be referred to as a ‘dropout factory’ as it reflects poorly on both staff and students.
It is important that every student has a positive view of the value of education.
Brittany McCrary for the Editorial Board.