teacher for truth wrote on Jul 16, 2008 3:00 PM:What is not included here is what they consider to be drop-out. Students who only stop attending mid-semester are considered drop-outs. Students who don't maintain consistent enrollment between semesters have not historically been considered drop-outs. When a freshman class comes in of 1200+ students and only 300-400 walk graduation where exactly do all those students go? "68 percent of students who were EXPECTED to graduate", but what about the students who were NOT expected to graduate?

Wow wrote on Jul 16, 2008 3:39 PM:and we keep throwing money at this failed system. Let me guess, the next cry from the teachers union, administration and politicians will be spend more and it will get better!
This should be a wake up call for VOUCHERS!

I wonder wrote on Jul 16, 2008 4:06 PM:how many of those "drop outs" are already in the remedial classes at Palomar College? Perhaps if Colleges only provided college courses, some people would have to finish K-12 where we pay to provide K-12.

Bring in competant wrote on Jul 16, 2008 4:10 PM:teachers! Then I wouldn't be forced to use spell cheker all the time.

And of the remainder half are illiterate wrote on Jul 16, 2008 4:40 PM:Remind me again what we're paying for?
It's LONG past time for vouchers. The good schools will thrive, and the bad ones will have to close.

paul wrote on Jul 16, 2008 4:50 PM:No student, except 68 percent left behind. These kids when they grow up will be a drag on society. Welcome to the new Liberal Age of teaching.

Joshua wrote on Jul 16, 2008 5:00 PM:Time to start holding parents accountable for the future taxation of our community by these undereducated members of society. What a shame that they are allowed to "drop out".

Be real people wrote on Jul 16, 2008 7:00 PM:Anyone brave enough to draw a correlation between illegal immigrant growth and this number?

Schools are seen as places for kids to be watched and be fed until they are old enough to work (teenagers) and then they leave school.

I vote for Vouchers too but only for American citizens.

A different thought wrote on Jul 16, 2008 7:40 PM:Maybe some of those kids have opted to drop out to help out at home with expenses. In this horribly expensive area to live in , many kids have to do this. Most want to graduate. I know what it is to struggle here, and not see a way out but to just hang on. Teachers and their unions have ruined education in Calif. If they cared, then Calif would not be 49th or worse in funding. Get rid of the teachers union and more of our money can be spent where we intended it to be.Maybe we parents can have a say in our kids education without the union. Open your eyes and look.

Kevin wrote on Jul 16, 2008 7:41 PM:I'm 19. The Public education system, to put it bluntly, sucks. Schools, like Oceanside High School for example, seem to only care about sports. There are no worthwhile classes on programming-- in fact, while I attended, the only computer related class was a class on how to use Word. If you can't use word on your own, you don't belong in a high school yet. After my sophomore year, I transferred to the Oceanside School of Business and Technology. They had a decent amount of business classes but only one real computer class- web design. The class was somewhat of a joke, but less than OHS's class on Word. Eventually my absenses due to lack of challenge in fields I was interested in became so abundant that I stopped attending altogether so I wouldn't have to think of an excuse. I scored 97 percentile in the PSAT, got top scores in the laughable third-grade-level CAHSEE, easily completed the CHSPE and when I turned 17 and was eligible, got 99% in 4 of the 5 tests on the GED.

Public schools offer NO way for someone who's smart to excel. They expect to make you go through the same lame programs as everyone else and not let you test out of your classes. No thanks. I got my GED a year before all my classmates graduated and got on with my career. What a waste of time public schools are.

Greg in Oceanside wrote on Jul 16, 2008 7:47 PM:The statistics quoted in the article are misleading. Numerous studies have shown that black and Latino students are in fact disproportionately dropping out at much more of an alarming rate.

According to the CA Dept of Education, San Diego County Latinos were the most disproportionate minority represented in the data analysis. Since Latinos represent the largest segment of North County's minority population, this is extremely disturbing. Is the disproportionate dropout rate amongst Latinos linked to the disproportionate amount of crime committed by them? You be the judge.

What is not discussed is the concept of education being the very key to success. And, it is offered at virtually no cost (i.e. free) to us, yet minorities continue to ignore this truth and remain mired in generational poverty. This generational poverty continues to be the very social ill that keeps us from making significant gains against fellow industrialized nations. It also puts enormous burdens on the hard-working taxpayers who provide the social welfare support and pay the costs of incarceration in our criminal justice system.

It's time for leaders in the black and Latino communities to step up to the plate to address this disturbing trend.

Mark wrote on Jul 16, 2008 7:48 PM:where are the Parents of all these Drop outs? And what % of the Drop outs are not even American Citizens?

Karl wrote on Jul 16, 2008 8:17 PM:Simply unbelievable. I just don't get it. When this old timer graduated in the early 70's it was very rare for someone not to finish high school.

What the heck happened?

Very Sad Indeed wrote on Jul 16, 2008 8:43 PM:Its the Politicians..who else..? Low pay for Teachers... Kids today are "board" in class from weak and poor teaching program specially when one has to listen to a non skilled Teacher in a class room that is 80% spanish speaking (I ant racist or Predudist we simply don't speak spanish nor were we raised in Mexico). I am a whitness a speak from experiance I went through to the point that my one kid was sleeping in class and beahaving poorly with no interest to learn since the Teacher was Spanish and spent more time speaking in spanish to spanish kids. That is my statement and wish no offense to no spanish parents as I have lots of good spanish friends who also agreed with my concern. God bless America.

Joe wrote on Jul 16, 2008 10:05 PM:It's so good to know that all this tax money we are throwing around to support the people that aren't supposed to be here is all going to waste.
Oh and the dumbing down the students that really want to learn is another great idea.
Thank you congress, Arny, and the rest of the spineless, sell-outs. Your plan is working out quite well for all us law abiding, ready to learn citizens who get nothing but a slap in the face, while you rob us blind.

Rufus wrote on Jul 17, 2008 1:54 AM:No WHERE in the constitution is the education of young folks made a responsibility of the federal government. It's up to parents and local governmant. Here we have yet another example of the failed policies ... Tsk Tsk

Skip wrote on Jul 17, 2008 4:51 AM:These numbers should not be too big of a surprise. After all a lot of us believe that this is due to the high number of Illegal Aliens entering our state and becoming part of our system. There is a never ending line of impoverished and illiterate people trying to come here, who are Citizens of other countries. Sure they want a better life, but can we relly support all of them.

What really scares me is that O'bama recently said, that you kids had better learn Spanish.

What is needed is wrote on Jul 17, 2008 5:58 AM:Trunacy Officers who not only ticket the youths but the parents as well with hefty fines and community work. If the parents can't or won't take charge of their children, then make the children wards of the state. Also the teachers need to be tested, some of them are not qualified to be teachers for our youth and need to be replaced pronto.

To Very Sad Indeed wrote on Jul 17, 2008 6:36 AM:OMGosh, please re-read your blog. Your blog is "very sad indeed". It actually offended me, not because of your statements but because you can't spell, write or use correct words for your sentences. (Example it should be "bored", not "board") I hope the blog was a "joke" and you don't really write like this.

As Always Parents wrote on Jul 17, 2008 7:07 AM:Are the ones let off the hook. Let's blame the teachers, schools, and principals and not put any responsibility on the parents-Sheesh!

Here's a question: Why can't Hispanic immigrant students be like Asian immigrant students?

The report on the news last night said that White and Asian students only have an 8% dropout rate while Hispanics had the highest at 24%.

Once again, it's the attitude of the Asian parents who won't accept bad grades or poor performance from their kids. AND, they put the responsibility on their kids, not only on the schools!

And remember, many Asian immigrants come from countries far poorer, far more dangerous, and with far fewer opportunities than Mexico or other Latin countries.

susan wrote on Jul 17, 2008 7:15 AM:I put the blame totally on the school system. The voters of Ca overwhemingly voted against educating the children of illegal immigrants with our tax dollars. I believe it was prop 168. The teachers union promptly had it overturned. They wanted the thousands per child it would bring. When the drop out statistics started to climb we were told that the children weren't well nourished enough. Along came a free breakfast and lunch. Then more money for Spanish language teachers and a reduction of electives at the high school level. Now what's their excuse? In my mind they got exactly what they asked for at the expense of our whole educational system.
Soon the high school district will be coming to the voters asking for yet more money to build another high school. How is this going to help by spending more money for more of the same?

Just wondering wrote on Jul 17, 2008 7:26 AM:To "A Different Thought": Just how is it the teacher union's fault that CA is 49th in funding for schools? I thought that they were all money hungry solbs who were not smart enough to get a "real" job.

Greg in Oceanside wrote on Jul 17, 2008 7:35 AM:Like another person said, back in my day dropping out was very rare. This trend is something that has crept in and doesn't seem to be getting any better.

A neighbor once told me we're going to have two classes of people; those who did the right thing, stayed in school and got the good job, and the other class will be the 'toilet scrubbers.' Take that for what it's worth, but it makes sense.

These dropouts will struggle the rest of their lives, in menial, dead-end jobs. It's wishful thinking for dropouts to think they're going to be successful. Studies have shown that high school dropouts will make a certain amount during their lives, with high school graduates making more, and college graduates will earn significantly more than high school graduates.

The number of kids dropping out will only translate to too much surplus of unskilled labor in our workforce. Leading to too many people on welfare, and incarcerated.

On the positive side, for those of us who have children that have graduated, and even gone off to college, their future looks pretty bright, and means they'll have less competition for the good jobs.

Artsyrat wrote on Jul 17, 2008 8:40 AM:Think of the kids. First of all, one language, if anyone no matter what foreign language they speak when they enter the Ca. school system, if they do not know English, that should be the number one priority for that child. Kids at an early age learn and retain more than we give them credit for.

My comment has nothing to do with race, it has to do with kids learning and setting a sturdy foundation for that learning. If all the children speak ONE language in the classroom then that obstical of not understanding one another is taken away for a better road of enducation for that child and their classmates.

My Grandparents were imigrants from Germany, they learned the English language immediately upon arriving to the US and it benefited them. It will benefit these kids, all of them, too. The young ones will be able to learn at the pace of the classroom instead of tripping on not understanding the primary langauge of the country.

arnys army wrote on Jul 17, 2008 9:07 AM:This is all by design. The seperation of class is Education. Taxes are to be reinvested into your own county for the benefit of the citizens. This GOP has been destroying public education for 36 years. Is a tank going to help solve this problem? The "State is responcible" argument is pure repukelican spin.

To arnys army wrote on Jul 17, 2008 9:26 AM:more then 50% of the states TOTAL spending goes to education. CA has one of the highest income tax and sales tax of all the states. It is in the middle on per capita spending for education. Democrats control spending, they are the majority in the state. How much more money should go to this failed system. Step up and give if you want to. They will take it. For me, the only solution is the choice brought about by vouchers. Wake up, money won't solve it! The culture of the majority of attendees parents is use the schools as babysitters until they are old enough to work and have kids of their own. Vouchers, English only and slam the border door are the only solutions!

The Numbers are IN wrote on Jul 17, 2008 9:51 AM:Just one more reason to vote NO on the EUHSD school bond that they intend to float in November. We've been asking for the dropout rates for years and we finally have them. Escondido will be built out by 2012, they already have declining admissions, and now we see how many students are actually dropping out. It is time to re-evaluate how they are spending the money they already have and figure out why such a high percentage of students aren't finishing high school.

Gil wrote on Jul 17, 2008 10:25 AM:This is one of the best blog pages I have seen since it's inception. Many great ideas.

Mark wrote on Jul 17, 2008 10:33 AM:to make matters worse todays headline
Reads " College Degree Doesn't Pay"

Retired Public School Teacher wrote on Jul 17, 2008 10:36 AM:Our system likes to pay later. The prison system does not need to look at the drop out rates to figure out how many beds it will need in the future. All they need to do is look at the kindergarten retention rates to figure that number out. Yes kids are still retained in the early grades for failing to learn how to read. The best predictor for being pushed out of school at kindergarten, first grade or high school is failing to learn how to read at an early age. If you don't learn how to read WELL by the third grade, you can kiss the "Good life" good bye. Reading, writing and arithmetic the "THREE R's" use to be what schools did best. The days of the basics have been high jacked by social services, Hallmark and the Teacher's Union. There are too many self interest groups and very little interest in assuring all children are well educated. It is time to start a Children's Union or we will continue down the same path. Costa Rica has a near perfect literacy rate and so do most Northern European countries. A young mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Carter wrote on Jul 17, 2008 12:24 PM:Is the baby boomer drop out rate and baby boomer student performance directly proportional to the performance of the baby boomer teachers? I think so.
Perhaps the baby boomer staff writer, Stacy Brandt, should schedule another year in baby boomer high school. The last time I checked one quarter dropping out left 75 percent, not 68 percent. Of course it might depend on which side of the "nearly" 25 percent is being referred to. As it stands the statement could be as much as 14 percent drop outs? At any rate, maybe the figures in the statement are only seven percent off - maybe.
Perhaps it is back to baby boomer high school for both of us Stacy, that is if we can find a baby boomer teacher that cares enough to teach.
Isn't it just like a baby boomer - forever trying to find the answer to whose responsible when 32 percent the students of a graduating year has dropped out. That's like going to a Broadway play and blaming the poor quality of the play on the audience - mostly baby boomers that is.

From the WSJ wrote on Jul 17, 2008 12:34 PM:"...the average American with a college diploma still earns about 75% more than a worker with a high-school diploma and is less likely to be unemployed."

Good luck with no HS diploma!!!

Patriot wrote on Jul 17, 2008 12:50 PM:Some have asked, with fewer illegal aliens around, who will pick the fruit, pack the meat, landscape the yards, make the beds, clean the toilets, and flip the burgers? Now you know. California has produced its own native population of underskilled and undereducated labor.

El Chickles wrote on Jul 17, 2008 3:03 PM:I find it interesting that anything wrong with education, the Morans and Scarecrows of north county right away blame it on illegal immigrants. Often it is the same BS from these self claimed American Boys. It is obviuos that they are not real Americans in my personal opinion. It is UnAmerican to blame your economic, racial and social frustrations on innocent, little brown kids attending California schools. You morans and scarecrows need to get a life or ship out to where you came from. Latinos are not going to leave or die, they will multiply.

RR wrote on Jul 17, 2008 3:22 PM:Patriot at 12:50 has a good point. Also, despite the fact some teachers oppose a system of merit pay, (you guess which ones), I still put much of the blame for poor school performance on the teachers union. The union sees to it that poor teachers remain in the system (tenure) and the good teachers are paid the same as the bad ones. A recipe for mediocre output.

To El Chickle wrote on Jul 17, 2008 4:17 PM:You comments are a prime example of the misplaced latino arrogance.

You sound proud.

Proud of what achievement? "Multiplying?"

Wow...You are doing a great job. You are turning the U.S.A. into Mexico.

Pat yourselves on the back! We screwed up another country!

Who will look out for our future wrote on Jul 17, 2008 4:41 PM:Our schools are controlled by one of the biggest special interest group in California, CTA= California Teacher's Association. For every excellent teacher, there are 10 mediocre and at least three poor teachers that are protected by the teacher's union. Who has the best interest of our students? Our school system does not have any advocates to make sure they are receiving a quality education and become contributing member of society instead of a burden. No one wants to make a statement and say enough is enough. Excellent teachers need to be compensated for producing results and keeping students in school. Excellent teacher need to be compensated just as much as doctors or lawyers. This will never happen as long as there is a teacher's union.

lecat wrote on Jul 17, 2008 4:51 PM:It appears that many people are blaming the entire public school system as the main reason for the drop out rate. If you read the article, Poway Unified had only 4%, while Escondido had 17%. Asian students as a whole had a 10% drop out rate compaired to African American at 41%. The MAIN reason is the Parents of these children! 'As always parents' is totally correct.....Black and Latino students are given the same opportunities to succeed as the Asian and White students...Their parents are failing them for not instilling the value of an education, and they are failing themselves for not trying to better themselves.

Would you like cheese with that wrote on Jul 17, 2008 4:56 PM:The statistics here are different than the ones listed in other papers. At any rate, it's interesting to note that blacks and hispanics have triple the dropout rate of asians and whites. I suppose that would partially explain their equally high rate of incarceration. It's nothing less than an indictment on the current health of our society. We ALL lose. I place 100% of the blame firmly on the shoulders of the students. It's called personal responsibility. Blaming others for their laziness is rediculous. The blame game is a lame game.

To El Chickle wrote on Jul 17, 2008 5:27 PM:Are the Morans a family that you know and you don't like?
If you are trying to talk about stupid people, that don't know how to spell and only know how to multiply into a big pile of nothing, the word you need to use is morons.
It is obvious (the correct spelling) you are part of the problem and not even interested in being part of the solution. That mexican pride thing that you try to portray is old, tired and very flawed. It doesn't work, those that have to repeatedly tell everyone that they are a prideful bunch are the ones that have the least pride of anyone.

To would you like cheese with that wrote on Jul 17, 2008 5:56 PM:How can we blame our students for not achieving grade level standards? Schools are there to serve the learning needs of children. Unfortunately too many schools are only serving the needs of adults that clock in every day, collect a pay check for life regardless if students learn or graduate. Latino and black parents trust that schools are putting the needs of their children first. What incentive do teachers have to produce an educated society. Schools with black and latinos usually have teachers with little experience or are burnt out on the system that does not reward excellence. Forget the mediocre teachers who bully the good teachers to maintain the status quo. A few great teachers can not save a flawed system meant to protect the needs of adults. This is a huge system problem that is not going away unless parents and citizens demand that schools put the learning needs of kids first. NO MORE EXCUSES. High expectations and teachers and parents working together will produce greater results and outcomes. Yes the drop out rate can be eradicated if we expect to do better and live within our means. Pouring more money into the system will not fix this crisis unless it goes directly into the pockets of teachers producing results.

To would you like cheese with that wrote on Jul 17, 2008 6:06 PM:How can we blame our students for not achieving grade level standards? Schools are there to serve the learning needs of children. Unfortunately too many schools are only serving the needs of adults that clock in every day, collect a pay check for life regardless if students learn or graduate. Latino and black parents trust that our public schools are putting the needs of our children first. What incentive do teachers have to produce an educated society. Schools with black and latinos usually have teachers with little experience or are burnt out on the system that does not reward excellence. Forget the mediocre teachers who bully the good teachers to maintain the status quo. A few great teachers can not save a flawed system meant to protect the needs of low performing adults. This is a huge system problem that is not going away unless parents and citizens demand that schools put the learning needs of kids first. NO MORE EXCUSES. High expectations and teachers and parents working together will produce greater results and outcomes. Yes the drop out rate can be eradicated if we expect to do better and live within our means. Pouring more money into the system will not fix this crisis unless it goes directly into the pockets of teachers producing results.

And here I am wrote on Jul 17, 2008 8:38 PM:thinking that the Morans and the Scarecrows were maybe feuding families, like the Hatfields and McCoys! Lmao!

osider wrote on Jul 17, 2008 11:51 PM:what about the 50 percent of minoritys in oceanside will dropout how come they wont show that