Legislative action is imperative to better assist struggling students through high school and beyond, says Jobs For the Future (JFF), a nonprofit advocacy organization.
As the nation’s high school graduation rate remains stagnate and historically disadvantaged students drop out of high school with greater frequency than their White counterparts, most states have failed in taking substantial action to reverse the troubling trend.
To assist state policymakers in formulating transformative educational policy to reduce high school attrition rates, JFF presents a comprehensive framework for helping all students persevere and succeed in and beyond high school, especially low-income students, who are more likely than their more affluent peers to drop out of high school or be unprepared for college and employment.
In its latest report, “Raising Graduation Rates in an Era of High Standards: Five Commitments for State Action,” JFF calls on states to exercise crucial leadership by adopting five specific recommendations:
“For the sake of our students and our nation, we urge state policymakers to review the recommendations in this report and commit to implementing them as soon as possible,” said Marlene B. Seltzer, JFF president and CEO, in an official statement. “In doing so, states can raise graduation rates without compromising high college- and work-readiness standards and take a critical step to improving the economic prospects of our citizenry and our nation as a whole.”
