September 27, 2011, BOSTON - Teachers, students, parents, and elected officials from cities and towns around Massachusetts testified in support of S. 185, An Act Preventing Students from Dropping Out of School, at a Joint Committee on Education hearing today at the Massachusetts State House. The bill, sponsored by Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz of Boston, calls on parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and the state to each be a part of the solution of keeping students on a path to graduation.

“The dropout crisis affects all of us,” said Chang-Díaz. “It affects all corners of the state, and it affects all facets of our communities. This is a problem with multiple root causes, and it requires a comprehensive solution. That’s exactly the approach that this bill takes—calling on all the actors that surround a child to take some responsibility in bringing about change.”

Springfield City Councilor Amaad Rivera, Lawrence School Committee members Pavel Payano and Martina Cruz, and Worcester School Committee member Tracy O’Connell Novick testified in support of S. 185. “Springfield is a minority-majority city, and some of our schools have a dropout rate over 50 percent,” Rivera said. “This bill, which asks something of everyone, which doesn’t blame anyone, which makes us all part of the village that raises a child, is exactly the type of work we should be doing.”

Rivera pointed to the bill’s funding structure, which places financial responsibility for key student support provisions on the state—not on districts or municipalities. “It’s great when we as municipal officials get a funded mandate that allows us to be part of the solution that will impact lives for generations,” said Rivera. “It signals that the pathway to our future is together.”

Donnell Brown, a recent high school graduate and a resident of Dorchester, spoke in support of the bill’s graduation coach and alternative education provisions. After being expelled from South Boston High School during his freshman year, Brown enrolled in Community Academy, an alternative high school within the Boston Public School system. He credits the Academy’s individualized attention as the key to his graduation.

“Adult support has not only impacted my education, but changed my life,” Brown said. “Without alternative education, I don’t know how I would have made it out of high school. I suffered from major personal and family issues. What helped me during that time were the caring adults at Community Academy that kept me engaged and focused on my goals.”

Brandon Finegold, a chemistry teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, testified about how the bill would support him in his work. “Most of the responsibilities of a graduation coach currently are left to teachers,” said Finegold. “For each at-risk student, we must call home after every absence, collect information from our colleagues, follow up on outdated and constantly changing contact information, document our interventions, and arrange necessary specialized support services. Though we work our hardest to help our students in every way possible, time is our most limited resource. The time that it takes to effectively support each at-risk student is time that is taken away from direct teaching and learning. Graduation coaches would be able to focus all their time on such an important job while freeing up teachers to do their own jobs more effectively.”

S. 185 is informed by recommendations from the 2009 Massachusetts Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission report, and its provisions include proven solutions from around the nation. The bill:

• expands the state’s Early Warning Indicator Index into earlier grades, providing schools critical data to target appropriate resources to kids in need;

• creates the Massachusetts Graduation Coach Initiative, matching at-risk students with caring adults tasked with helping to guide them to success in the school system;

• allows parents up to three days paid time off to attend their children’s academic activities; charges schools and graduation coaches with including family engagement in their dropout prevention strategies;

• creates better communication between schools and parents when a child is suspended or expelled, and pushes schools to reduce dependency on suspension and expulsion as a disciplinary tactic;

• and promotes the availability of alternative educational options for students who leave school before graduating.

S. 185 is supported by a broad coalition of advocacy groups, including Stand for Children, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Oíste, the Boston Parents Organizing Network, the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, Massachusetts Educational Opportunity Association, Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership, the Multicultural Dropout Outreach Collaborative, and the TRUST Project.

“We do a lot of things right with our education system in Massachusetts, but these successes aren’t reaching all of our young people,” said Chang-Díaz. “Our commitment to education is a fundamental part of who we are. We know how to do things right. If anyone can solve this problem, it's us.”