Gavin Neves needed a job. A Broadway High School student felt threatened in class. Margarita Craig got pregnant.
California high school students who drop out believe there's a good reason to leave school. Even in complicated circumstances, the trigger point can often be summed up in one word. Fear. Poverty. Boredom. Failure. Addiction.
Though schools offer myriad programs to catch troubled teens, the dropout rate is higher than educators ever suspected. Data released last week suggests that 24 percent of teens drop out of high school, nearly double the previous estimate of 13 percent.
In Santa Clara County, the rate of students who drop out over a four-year period is 20.2 percent, less than the statewide figure, but still "ghastly," according to Dan Moser, associate superintendent of the East Side Union High School District.
Struggling students cite a variety of pressures pushing them out of the school doors for good. Their stories suggest there will be no easy solution to solving the dropout crisis.
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