New legislation is making it easier for drop-out recovery schools, like ours, to provide education! Click here to learn more about Senate Bill 1538 or House Bill 3808.
Let me first tell you how American YouthWorks is different from the average school. Our public charter high school embraces one of the hardest populations of young people to work with: those who have already dropped out or who are at risk of dropping out of school.
All of our students come to us with significant challenges: pregnancy, special education needs, homelessness or poverty. As a result, they may have already dropped out, or are several years behind their peers. In fact, the average student at American YouthWorks is already 18 years old when they enroll with us, and has only completed half of his/her credits. Our students have a lot to overcome in order to graduate and build a secure life for themselves. As a result, they are more likely to drop out, to have spotty attendance and to graduate late.
We operate under that same standards as all other schools. However, regulations fail to take into account the growth of individual students, no matter how tremendous. Also, they don’t recognize the difficulties that are specific to providing education for at-risk youth.
You may remember the story of Stephanie, a teen parent who came to us behind on her credits. She did not have anyone to take care of her son and could not afford child care, therefore, she stopped going to school. Stephanie chose American YouthWorks because we offer free child care to our students. Now she’s on track to graduate this June; and she’ll be the first in her family with a high school diploma! Like most of our students, Stephanie wants to overcome her challenges so that she can finish school and build a better life. In order to graduate, she needed help from a school that understood her needs as a teen mom. However, stories like Stephanie’s are not reflected in the rankings. In fact, because it will take her more than four years to finish, our school will be penalized, even though she was already behind when she came to American YouthWorks.
Because of these regulatory challenges, very few charter schools specifically cater to these groups of students. But there’s good news ahead for those that do. Legislation that passed in the Senate and is headed for a vote in the House, would create labels for “Dropout Recovery/Prevention” schools that aim to work with at-risk student groups. This legislation will not exempt schools from important standards and regulations that help protect students and public money. Rather, it is a step toward acknowledging the challenges of schools that seek out marginalized students.
Keep your fingers crossed! This change will encourage more schools to accept and work with at-risk students like Stephanie. This is a win, not just for drop-out recovery schools, but also for the students who need opportunities to get their lives on track!