Diplomas Count

Campus Report ^ | June 17, 2009 | Emily Kanyi

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Diplomas Count

by: Emily Kanyi, June 18, 2009

A report released by Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center shows that despite a marked improvement in the national high school graduation rate, three out of ten U.S. public schools students still fail to get a high school diploma.

The U.S. national graduation rate rose from sixty-six percent in 1996 to sixty-nine percent in 2006. From 1997 to 1999 the statistics recorded a yearly sixty-six percent graduation rate and between 2000 and 2003 there was an improved annual graduation rate of sixty-eight percent.

In 2003 to 2005 this increased to seventy percent annually, the highest improvement in ten years. 2006 marked the first time in the past decade that the nation’s graduation rate posted a noticeable annual decline, falling more than one percentage point—from 70.6 percent in 2004 to 2005 to 69.2 percent in 2005 to 2006. This was a signal that the consistent improvements noted over the years were in jeopardy of eroding.

The “Diplomas Count 2009: Broader Horizons: The Challenge of College Readiness for All Students” report covers a ten year period and highlights a 2006 down-turn in graduation as a major cause of concern.

The national report, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, tracks state-by-state graduation policies and gives a nationwide analysis of graduation rates and trends. The report findings reveal that policymakers, states and schools have yet to reach a consensus on what it takes to prepare students for college.

While referring to the number of high school graduation dropouts, the EPE Research Center Director Christopher B. Swanson noted that the nation is failing to reach a level necessary to put the U.S. on a solid footing in the competitive global market....

[Brookhaven]

At this point in history, dropping out of high school is dumb. In fact, not getting a college dipoloma (in anything, doesn’t matter what) is also dumb. Why? Employers use them as “weeders” to eliminate job candidates.

Job level 1: no diploma required.
Job level 2: high school diploma (or GED) required.
Job level 3: college dipoloma required (what it’s in doesn’t matter.)

The reason this came about was discrimination lawsuits. If a company hired someone for a job without a HS diploma and passed over a minortiy (of female) candidate with a HS diploma, they ended up being sued by the passed over candidate for discrimination (same thing happens with collge vs non-college diploma.) So what did companies do to protect themselves? Instituted hard and fast rules that you must have at least a high school diploma (or college depending on the job) before you can even apply. It doesn’t matter that you can do the job blindfolded. No diploma, no job.

Yea there are exceptions to the rule (”I know someone without a diploma that got hired”), but they are the EXCEPTIONS.

Bottom line is you don’t get that piece of paper, you are hamstringing yourself for life.

The irony is companies/HR departments don’t seem to care WHAT the diploma is for, they just want to see that you have the piece of paper so they can check it off on the form so they know their company is protected from discrimination lawsuits.

[End Times Sentinel]

three out of ten U.S. public schools students still fail to get a high school diploma

That's a pretty bleak employment future, not having a H.S. Diploma.

"They fired me from my job and done replaced me with one of them robots."

"Uh... Chester? It's not a robot, it's a trash compactor."

Job level 3: college diploma required (what it’s in doesn’t matter.)
Bottom line is you don’t get that piece of paper, you are hamstringing yourself for life.

One of the truest, unfairest realities of life.

Some of the best people, the most competent people, I’ve ever worked with were caped as to how far they could advance, simply because they lacked a college diploma (“the secret handshake” as I call it.)

The one saving grace, is that often, when they decide to go after that degree, they tend to know as much or more than the professors, so it’s a pretty easy task to accomplish.