Education officials propose raise in Indiana's high school dropout age

INDIANAPOLIS -- A proposal to raise the minimum age at which students can drop out of high school from 16 to 18 could help improve Indiana's high school graduation rates, education officials say.\nBut the proposal has raised doubts even among its supporters because it comes during tight fiscal times for the state.\nThe proposal is tucked inside a massive education reform plan intended to link early childhood learning -- elementary, middle and high school instruction -- and higher education.\nCalled Indiana's P-16 Plan for Improving Student Achievement, the proposed restructuring is being considered as state education officials implement a new way to calculate high school graduation rates.\n"We can't improve on the number of kids going to college if we lose them before they even get there by dropping out of high school," Stan Jones, the state's commissioner for higher education, told The Indianapolis Star.\nLater this month, Indiana's Education Roundtable is expected to make final recommendations on the P-16 proposal, which seeks to keep students in high school as long as possible to help them earn diplomas.\nHowever, it is a costly reform that has yet to have a price tag attached, and that bothers some who otherwise support the proposal.\n"The last time I looked, the state coffers weren't getting any larger," said Pat Kiely, president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association and a Roundtable member. "If we don't take it seriously, the legislature won't either, and it will be nothing more than a plan on paper."\nState education officials estimate that more than 20,000 high school students do not graduate each year.\nUnder current law, a student can leave school for nonacademic reasons at age 18. But state law also allows students to leave as early as 16 with permission from parents or guardians.\nThe P-16 proposal would eliminate that provision and raise the minimum dropout age to 18.\nSchool officials say a change is needed to make it tougher for students, often from low-income families who get full-time jobs because they say they need to help out at home, to quit prior to graduation.\nNational research shows that dropouts have fewer career options, are typically stuck in low-paying jobs and have limited opportunities to go to college.\nThe P-16 Plan states that student dropouts can cost taxpayers as much as $500,000 in public assistance, health care and incarceration costs over 30 years.\nBy contrast, a high school diploma can add nearly $500,000 in earning potential during a worker's career, the proposal says.\n"Every single child who has a better education has more earning power and a better lifestyle," said Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee.