Should Maryland require high school students to be 18 years old in order to drop out?
The General Assembly is expected to pass a bill proposing to increase Maryland's minimum school dropout age from 16 to 18 years old, according to a report by WTOP.
TELL US: When should a student be allowed to drop out of school? Leave a comment below.
The change will align Maryland with Virginia and D.C., where the dropout age is already set at 18.
"Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to sign the bill, which is on its third and final reading in the House," the report states.
The change — according to the bill — is gradual, with the minimum age first increasing to 17 on July 1, 2015, and to 18 two years later.
The bill provides some exceptions for students to dropout early, including: kids who graduate early or get a GED, are married or are in the military, provide financial support for their family, or are taking classes through an alternative program.
TELL US: What do you think of the proposed legislation that will increase the Maryland's minimum dropout age to 18? Is the change justified or should it stay at 16? Leave a comment.
Parents are best able to determine when their child should leave HS, not the state.
America has this idiotic belief system that revolves around the ideas that (A) everyone can be smart, (B) everyone should go to college, and (C) when a person turns out not to be smart or go to college, it is a disgrace and it is the fault of that person's teachers. Everything that my teachers and my parents teachers did was wrong, but all the research data shows that those students were better than those of today.
The actual problem is the lack of school-based and community-based job training that uses 21st century tools and modern industrial processes. Blue-ribbon panels time and time again point to the thousands of technology-intensive jobs that go unfilled. Still, American businesses move manufacturing operations offshore rather than train highly paid, highly mobile American workers. Unfunded legislative initiatives ring hollow.
Its sad that anyone drops out, but it is a reality.
The decision of letting a student drop out of school before 18, should be made by the parents, not our government. The cost is estimated to be $56 million per year. Five years ago, Governor O’Malley’s task force estimated the cost even higher at about $200 million per year. Where is this money going to come from? Probably increased taxes, tolls, and anything else our current government can come up with. When it comes time to vote, I know I will not cast my ballot for our current officials
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
Most students who drop out do so becomes of family circumstances or lack of support. Ask an inner city student who is 16 if they are going to drop out to go to college, there is no money nor resources to do this. Students need support and encouragement to stay in school and to do their best to succeed. I myself dropped out and went on to college but I know I am an exception and do not encourage it my any means!!!!
Many times, the problem is not with the students, the problem is with the teachers or the pace of the classes. I.E. I was labeled a 'difficult' and 'behind' student in elementary but when they tested me for IQ and learning, I was lightyears ahead of the other students and THAT was why I was acting out. Kennedy-Krieger lambasted the school system over that as well and made them move me to 'more advanced' classes, with them actually thinking about "Hmm.... is the student and teacher's personality going to clash?" which was another 25% of the problem.
It's not usually the students. Unless you are talking about poor students.
http://www.myhealthwebsite.org
Secondly, public assistance should NEVER be based on whether you have finished high school or any other thing than personal need. We already have it where you have to have a job to get welfare and other social assistance (save if you are mentally or physically deficient, or even the state job service cannot find you a job). That is all that we need in terms of limiting the ability of people to get public assistance.