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Lawmakers Use Dropout One-Upmanship
RALEIGH — It became a game of one-upmanship between lawmakers in Raleigh this session, as three bills — two from the Senate and one from the House — were filed in the General Assembly in an effort to raise the statewide compulsory school attendance age. This is the latest attempt to curb escalating dropout rates throughout the state, which rose to 3.29 percent, or 21,000 students, during the 2003-04 school year, up from 3.23 percent, or 20,000 students, the previous year. A recent article by The Virginian-Pilot writer Darren Freeman reported that the increase was a result of many 16- and 17-year-olds leaving school before graduating.
