Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Addressing the Crisis of Untapped Potential

Today in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Hillary Clinton outlined her plan to cut the dropout rate among minority students in half and help a new generation of Americans pursue their dreams. Clinton would invest more than $1 billion in programs that identify and support at-risk youth, provide early intervention, fund small schools with intensive personalized instruction, and recruit and train excellent teachers and principals in hard-to-serve areas. She would also establish high quality, universal pre-kindergarten to make sure all children are prepared to learn from an early age.

"We know that the education system is not working when close to half of African American and Hispanic students will not receive high school diplomas with their class. Disparities in our education system mean poor and minority children receive an education that is often separate and rarely equal. And the consequences are devastating," Clinton said.

"I am setting a big goal for this country: to cut the dropout rate for students of color in half within a decade. I'll address the crisis of untapped potential. I believe we can do it. I reject the fatalism which says we cannot reform our education system. I reject the notion that children dropping out of school are a lost cause - because when I'm president, these children will be my cause."

When students don't complete high school, there are negative and long-lasting consequences for them and for society. On virtually all measures, high school dropouts struggle. They earn $35,000 less per year than college graduates - a wage gap that translates into $1 million over the course of a lifetime. They are three times more likely than college graduates to be unemployed and twice as likely as high school graduates to slip into poverty.

As President, Hillary will provide more than $1 billion for intensive, targeted interventions to help minority students attain a high school diploma. Under her plan, Hillary will invest in:

• Promising Approaches for Reducing the Dropout Rate;
• Recruiting and Retaining Excellent Teachers and Principals in Low-Income, Hard-to-Serve Areas;
• Identifying At-Risk Youth Early On and Providing Intensive Interventions to Get Them Back on Track; and
• Early Childhood Programs to Prepare All Children for School.

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America is going to need the talents of every citizen to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We don't have a person to waste. Sadly, the United States has failed to address in any comprehensive manner the dropout crisis we are experiencing. The phenomenon affects all student groups, but is particularly troubling for African-American and Hispanic students. Roughly, one half of black and Hispanic young people do not complete high school on time, compared with one-third of their Caucasian peers. High school students living in low-income families drop out of school at six times the rate of their peers from high-income families. Too often, the decision to drop out, made at such an early age, affects students' ability to pursue their dreams, reach their full potential, become self sufficient, and provide for their families.

When students don't complete high school, the consequences for their lives are devastating. On virtually all measures, high school dropouts struggle. They earn $35,000 less per year than college graduates - a wage gap that translates into $1 million over the course of a lifetime. They are three times more likely than college graduates to be unemployed and twice as likely as high school graduates to slip into poverty. According to the Dept of Labor, 90% of the fastest-growing, high-wage jobs require post-secondary education. And research shows that the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the 21st century workforce are the same skills and knowledge needed to succeed in post-secondary education.

Society pays the price too. When a student drops out of school, society suffers from untapped potential. We may be losing the next John Glenn or Maya Angelou or a great fourth grade teacher. Instead of contributing to the richness of our country's talent and culture, high school dropouts are more likely to require long-term government help just to survive. In fact, forty percent of young people without a high school diploma received some type of government assistance in 2001. High school dropouts are more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison compared to someone with a high school diploma. According to the Gates Foundation, the lifetime cost to the nation for each youth who drops out of school and later moves into a life of crime and drugs ranges from $1.7 million to $2.3 million. The government would reap $45 billion if the number of high school dropouts were cut in half. In short, the cost of untapped potential in our society is too great and is unbecoming of a nation made strong and vibrant by its diverse population, economy, and cultural traditions.

Hillary believes we can and must address this challenge, and today she is proposing a plan to cut the minority dropout rate in half over the next decade. Under her plan, Hillary will invest in:

• Promising Approaches for Reducing the Dropout Rate;
• Recruiting and Retaining Excellent Teachers and Principals in Low-Income, Hard-to-Serve Areas;
• Identifying At-Risk Youth Early On and Providing Intensive Interventions to Get Them Back on Track; and
• Early Childhood Programs to Prepare All Children for School.

As President, Hillary will provide $1 billion for intensive, targeted interventions to help minority students attain a high school diploma. The interventions she will support include:

Investing in Promising, Innovative Approaches

As President, Hillary will invest in promising approaches that expose young people to different teaching methods, more rigorous coursework and curricula, and innovative strategies that meet students where they are while working to inspire them to greater achievement. Hillary will provide funding for the following initiatives:

Early College High Schools - As President, Hillary will support early college high schools, which are small schools designed to give students - especially those who are under-represented in higher education today - the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and an associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor's degree. Early college high school creates a smooth transition from high school to college by integrating students' high school and college experiences. When students complete early college high school, they not only have a diploma but also have enough college credits - or even an associate's degree – to go to a two- or four-year college or university, making higher education more accessible and affordable. The Early College Program Initiative, a consortium of 13 organizations funded by the Gates Foundation, was started in 2002 and has started or redesigned more than 160 schools in 24 states. Its first classes from its first three schools, over 95 percent of students graduated, 57 percent earned an associate's degree, and more than four out of five were accepted by a four-year college. North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley's "Learn and Earn High Schools," which gives students an opportunity to attend high school on community college and university campuses to earn both a high school diploma and two years of college transfer credit and/or an associate's degree in just five years, is another good example of such a program.

Multiple Pathways - As President, Hillary Clinton will support multiple pathways to graduation programs that address the different learning needs of all students by creating different avenues to graduation with the same high standards. These programs are implemented in conjunction with school districts that have proven to help students graduate from secondary schools and to prepare them for meaningful post-secondary opportunities like "transfer high schools" and "young adult centers." Transfer high schools are small high schools designed for students who have been enrolled in high school for at least one year but are not on grade level or for students who have dropped out. They provide personalized learning environments, rigorous academic standards, and support to meet instructional and development goals to go to college. In New York, this model has proven to work: students enrolled graduated at an average rate of 56 percent, compared with 19 percent, had they stayed in traditional high schools. These programs enable students to focus only on the credits they need for graduation. Hillary will also support programs that help students pass their General Education Development exam, and that give people opportunities to participate in workshops to develop employment skills, subsidized internships, receive college and career counseling, and get job placement assistance.

One American Graduation Rate - In December 2005, Governors from 50 states committed to adopting a common definition for their high school graduation rates. This common measure for high school graduation was an important step towards ensuring that we can compare the trends in graduation rates across states and years and consistently and accurately measure our progress towards increasing the graduation rate. As President, Hillary will support this compact by providing the support and resources needed to ensure states stay true to this commitment. Over our nation's history, we know that a fundamental aspect of remedying disparities requires us to document those disparities and promote solutions. By using a common measure of graduation, we can determine whether our efforts to prevent students from dropping out are working for each and every student population.

Recruiting and Retaining Outstanding Teachers and Principals in High Need Areas

In a study by the Center on Education Policy, 94 percent of school districts reported that one of the most effective strategies to assist struggling schools is to increase the quality of teacher and principal professional development. That is why Hillary will provide $500 million for investments in attracting, retaining, and recruiting outstanding teachers and principals. Too often, schools in low-income communities struggle to attract and retain highly qualified, excellent teachers. Students in high-minority schools are assigned to novice teachers at twice the rate as students in schools without many minority students. Classes in high-poverty and high-minority high schools are more likely to be taught by "out-of-field teachers" - those without a major or minor in the subject they teach. As President, Hillary will invest in initiatives to help recruit and retain great teachers in underserved areas. She will provide funding to school districts for financial recruitment incentives that help attract experienced teachers who have demonstrated knowledge and skills, such as National Board certification, to serve as coaches and mentors in underserved areas. High-need schools will be able to use these funds to offer higher salaries for experienced teachers who agree to serve in these roles for at least three years. Schools will also receive additional funds to provide professional development to support teachers and improve their working conditions. Hillary will also provide funding to reward teachers and other staff members in schools that make student achievement gains, in programs designed in conjunction with teachers and in keeping with collective bargaining agreements. One example of a promising approach was a recently negotiated school-wide incentive plan in New York City.

Principal Recruitment, Training and Support - School leaders have a significant impact on student achievement and teacher retention. More must be done to improve the training and support they receive. An effective and capable school leader can create the type of school environment conducive to academic success. Hillary supports plan to recruit and effectively train school leaders by providing on-the-job experience during the licensure process, clinical training, financial incentives, ongoing professional development, and mentors during their first two years on the job. This initiative will ensure principals are given the training and support they need to foster student success and effectively prepare our children to compete in the global economy.

Identifying At-Risk Youth Early On and Providing Intensive Interventions to Get Them Back on Track

Hillary believes that efforts to lower-and eventually eliminate-high school dropout rates must begin early in students' lives. The proposals above build on Hillary's past proposals to support programs to identify and support students who are at risk of dropping out of high school. As President, Hillary has said she will:

Support City and Community Plans to Track Dropouts and Support Disconnected Youth - Hillary believes that it will truly take a village to ensure that our children enter and successfully graduate from our school system. That's why she will call on mayors and other local officials to convene leaders from the education, labor, business, non-profit, religious, and workforce development sectors to develop comprehensive, locally-owned strategies to support children through to adulthood. The federal government will support this process by awarding $250 million per year in competitive grants to lower-income cities and communities. Communities will be encouraged to build off promising models like creating community youth centers - with case managers to track youth and provide support services - and expanding alternative education and Career Academy programs. Communities will also be encouraged to create an education continuum that will ensure that children at all stages of education (Pre-K through college) receive the intervention, support, and resources needed to succeed. This P-16 alignment will ensure that the curriculum in each state is aligned to the education standards and workforce expectation for the state, so that children can move from one grade to the next with the skills needed to succeed beyond high school.

Provide Early Mentoring and Support to Keep At-Risk Youth on Track - We must also provide early mentoring and support outside of the classroom. They need guidance and counseling from role models to help them succeed. To this end, Hillary has already committed to doubling federal support for early intervention mentoring programs, like GEAR UP, over five years to benefit an additional one million middle-school students in high-risk schools. GEAR UP currently supports innovative partnerships between local school systems, colleges, businesses, and non-profit organizations to provide middle-school students in high risk schools with comprehensive college-readiness services--including tutoring, mentoring, and college visits. Students remain enrolled in the program as they transition into high school, and receive curricular and academic support at key points in their academic career. Other mentoring programs like the Hillside Work Scholarship Connection in Rochester, New York have employed promising strategies, including the development of individualized college and career plans for middle-school students.

Early Childhood Programs to Prepare At Risk Children for School

Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman has said early intervention preschool programs for children from low-income families lead to higher achievement test scores, decreased grade retention, reduced time in special education, less crime and delinquency and increased high school graduation rates. Hillary thinks it's critical that we invest in early childhood education in order to address the dropout rate from the very start. That's why she has proposed to:

Expand Home Visitation - Innovative home visitation programs to help first-time mothers prepare for, and care for, their newborn children can make a real difference in the long-term education and life outcomes for at-risk children. Children who participated in these visitation programs had 56% fewer arrests and 81% fewer convictions than children who did not participate. Hillary will also expand Early Head Start.

Invest $10 Billion in Preschool for All - Hillary has a detailed plan to provide guaranteed access to high quality pre-school for all four-year olds through a federal-state partnership. States would receive funding to devise a plan for making voluntary Pre-K services universally available and states would provide Pre-K at no cost to children from low-income and/or limited-English families. States would have to hire teachers with a bachelor's degree and specialized training in early childhood development; use age-appropriate curricula; ensure that each child receives individualized attention through low teacher-to-child ratios; and monitor children's health and safety. If states have achieved these quality benchmarks, they will be able to use the funds flexibly to meet the needs of their local communities. They could serve younger children, raise teachers' salaries, provide additional support and training for teachers, or engage in other activities that expand and improve their pre-K programs. Currently, less than 20 percent – only 800,000 out of four million – of four year olds and 120,000 three year olds are enrolled in state pre-K programs, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. Studies show that universal pre-kindergarten programs pay for themselves after nine years and produce a growing annual return in the years beyond.