JCPS FACT: JCPS has not expelled a student in more than 25 years.

JCPS has not expelled a student in more than 25 years. This is the kind of fact that sounds great on the face of it, but when given more thought, one realizes that if this is true, then it may be part of the problem. To say that in 25 years there hasn't been one student who warranted expulsion defies all reason. Surely there must have been ONE student who needed to be expelled. Pride in this fact is almost akin to saying, "It doesn't matter what you've done or won't do, we'll just keep promoting you."

Of course, the secret is that you really don't have to expel that many high school students. By the time these kids reach 16, those that don't or won't go to school essentially drop off the rolls. Ironically, this new law that keeps kids in school until they are 18 may be more of a detriment to education than a cure for dropouts. Kids forced to stay in school who don't want to be there are hardly likely to find a sudden interest in education. What we need to be working on are the reasons students drop out in the first place. Insufficient skills are frequently the culprit, as who wants to sit day after day in a class in which they lack the skills to succeed? There are, of course, many other reasons for our high dropout rate, but until the public generally understands these causes they will be unable to support what needs to be done to address the problem.