Collin Powell Fights for High School Drop Outs

America's Promise Alliance Launches National Campaign to Combat Nation's High School Dropout and College-Readiness Crisis

Report Finds  America’s Largest Cities Struggle to Keep Majority of Students in School with Big Disparities Between Urban and Suburban Graduation Rates

America’s Promise Alliance Chair Alma Powell Announces Nationwide ‘Dropout Prevention Summits’; General Colin Powell Says Dropout Crisis Affects Economy and National Security

WASHINGTON, DC – A report to be released today finds that only about half of all students served by the main school systems in the nation's 50 largest cities graduate from high school. Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation released today by the America’s Promise Alliance and prepared by Editorial Projects in Education Research Center further reveals that in the metropolitan areas surrounding 35 of the nation’s largest cities, graduation rates in urban schools were lower than those in nearby suburban communities. In several instances, the disparity between urban-suburban graduation rates was more than 35 percentage points.

The report was released by Alma J. Powell, chair of the America’s Promise Alliance (Alliance), which is kicking off a national campaign to reduce high school dropout rates and prepare children for college, work and life. The campaign will include a series of ground-breaking, high-level Dropout Prevention summits to be held in every state and 50 communities over the next two years. General Colin Powell, founding chair of the Alliance, joined his wife in making the announcement – citing the dropout crisis as a threat to our economy and national security.

Nationwide, nearly one in three U.S. high school students drops out before graduating. In total, approximately 1.2 million students drop out each year – about 7,000 every school day, or one every 26 seconds.

The lead sponsor for the Dropout Prevention Campaign is the State Farm Insurance Company. State Farm is joined by AT&T, The Boeing Company, Ford Motor Company Fund, Casey Family Programs, ING Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

In response to today’s report, Alma Powell was joined by Alliance Founding Chair General Powell; U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings; Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico); Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina); State Farm Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr.; National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and others to launch the campaign. The campaign will bring mayors and governors, business owners, child advocates, school administrators, students and parents together to develop workable solutions and action plans for improving our nation’s alarming graduation rates. Several summits have already been held or are scheduled in Detroit, Tucson, Iowa and Mississippi. An additional 40 cities and states have committed. 

“When more than one million students a year drop out of high school, it’s more than a problem, it’s a catastrophe. Our economic and national security are at risk when we fail to educate the leaders and the workforce of the future,” said General Powell. “It’s time for a national ‘call to arms,’ because we cannot afford to let nearly one-third of our kids fail.”

Research shows that the more support youth have, both inside and outside of the classroom, the more likely they are to stay in school. Specifically, research demonstrates that the more young people experience five essential wrap-around supports, what the Alliance calls the “Five Promises” – caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, effective education and opportunities to help others – the greater their chance for future success.

“The number one predictor of a young person’s future success is whether they graduate from high school,” said Alma Powell, chair of America’s Promise Alliance. “But just conferring a diploma is not enough. Students today must graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college, work and life. We must invest in the whole child, and that means finding solutions that involve the family, the school and the community.”

Experts say that dropping out of high school affects not just students and their families, but the country overall – including businesses, government and communities. The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that high school dropouts from the Class of 2006-07 will cost the U.S. more than $329 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes. Young people of color are most affected, because nearly half of all African-American and Native-American students will not graduate with their class, while less than six in 10 Hispanic students will. Experts say that those who drop out are more likely to be incarcerated, rely on public programs and social services, and go without health insurance than those who graduate from high school.

“Economic success is dependent upon educational opportunities. If we are to compete, it is essential that we address America’s growing dropout crisis,” said Edward B. Rust, Jr., chairman and CEO of State Farm Insurance Company. “I urge other businesses to join us in this campaign to ensure that all young people earn a high school diploma and are ready not only for college, but to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce.”

In announcing the summits, the Alliance emphasized that they are designed to both raise awareness and develop actual action plans that will help put local high schools on the road to improved graduation rates with a curriculum that better prepares young people for the workforce. The Alliance also underscored that these state and local efforts would need to be buttressed by strong federal action, including passage of ‘The Graduation Promise Act’ and the ‘Every Student Counts Act.’ Similarly, the Alliance offered its own solutions to the dropout crisis rooted in work the organization already has underway around health care access and insurance, middle-school student civic and vocational engagement and using schools as hubs for the delivery of comprehensive resources to kids.

“The key to increasing graduation rates is to stop working in isolation and to start working together,” said Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO, America’s Promise Alliance. “That’s why we are convening these summits. We need curriculum reform, after-school programs, efforts to improve health care and nutrition programs, increased resources and greater accountability. Most of all, we need to recognize that no one entity can solve this crisis alone, but working together, we can make enormous strides to ensure our children succeed.”

Report Findings:
Other findings of the analysis released today include:

Students in suburban (74.9 percent) and rural (73.2 percent) public high schools were more likely to graduate than students in the country’s urban public high schools (60.4 percent).

Seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had a graduation rate lower than 50 percent in the principal (largest) school district serving the city.

• Those with the lowest graduation rates included Detroit City School District (24.9 percent), Indianapolis Public Schools (30.5 percent), Cleveland Municipal City School District (34.1 percent), Baltimore City Public School System (34.6 percent) and Columbus Public Schools (40.9 percent).

Thirty-five of the urban districts in the areas including and surrounding the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates below the national average of 70 percent.

• Those in which the smallest percentages of students graduate included Baltimore, Md. (34.6 percent); Columbus, Ohio (40.9 percent); Cleveland, Ohio (42.2 percent); Atlanta, Ga. (46.1 percent) and Denver, Colo. (46.8). In each, more than five in 10 students do not graduate with their class.
• Those areas in which the highest percentage of students graduate included Colorado Springs, Colo. (83.7 percent); San Jose, Calif. (80.9 percent); Nashville, Tenn. (77.0 percent); San Francisco/Oakland, Calif. (73.2 percent); Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz. (70.5 percent); and San Diego, Calif. (70.4 percent).

Seventeen of the metropolitan areas surrounding the nation’s 50 largest cities had a greater than 20 percentage-point gap between their urban and suburban graduation rates. Within 28 of those metropolitan areas, the urban-suburban graduation rate disparity was 10 percentage points or greater.

• Those with the greatest variances were Baltimore, Md. (47.0 points); Columbus, Ohio (42.0 points); Cleveland, Ohio (35.9 points), New York, N.Y. (35.5 points); and Denver, Colo. (34.1 points).

The report analyzes school district data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data (2003-04). The country’s 50 largest cities are determined based on 2006 population reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.

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About the America’s Promise Alliance
America’s Promise Alliance is the nation’s largest partnership alliance comprised of corporations, nonprofit organizations, foundations, policymakers, advocacy and faith groups committed to ensuring that children receive the fundamental resources – the Five Promises – they need to lead successful, healthy and productive lives and build a stronger society. Building on the legacy of our founder General Colin Powell, the Alliance believes a child’s success is grounded in experiencing the Five Promises – caring adults; safe place; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others – at home, in school and in the community. For more information visit: www.americaspromise.org.

Graduation Rates for the Main School Systems in the Nation’s 50 Largest Cities

City	Principal School District	Graduation Rate (2003-04)
Mesa, Ariz	Mesa Unified District	77.1%
San Jose, Calif.	San Jose Unified	77.0%
Nashville, Tenn.	Nashville-Davidson Co. School District	77.0%
Colorado Springs, Colo.	Colorado Springs School District	76.0%
San Francisco, Calif.	San Francisco Unified	73.1%
Tucson, Ariz.	Tucson Unified District	71.7%
Seattle, Wash.	Seattle School District	67.6%
Virginia Beach, Va.	Virginia Beach City Public Schools	67.4%
Sacramento, Calif.	Sacramento City Unified	66.7%
Honolulu, Hawaii	Hawaii Department of Education	64.1%
Louisville, Ky.	Jefferson County School District	63.7%
Long Beach, Calif.	Long Beach Unified	63.5%
Arlington, Texas	Arlington ISD	62.7%
Memphis, Tenn.	Memphis City School District	61.7%
San Diego, Calif.	San Diego Unified	61.6%
Albuquerque, N.M.	Albuquerque Public Schools	60.8%
El Paso, Texas	El Paso ISD	60.5%
Charlotte, N.C.	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	59.8%
Wichita, Kan.	Wichita Public Schools	59.6%
Phoenix, Ariz.	Phoenix Union High School District	58.3%
Austin, Texas	Austin ISD	58.2%
Washington, D.C.	District of Columbia Public Schools	58.2%
Fresno, Calif.	Fresno Unified	57.4%
Boston, Mass.	Boston Public Schools	57.0%
Fort Worth, Texas	Fort Worth ISD	55.5%
Omaha, Neb.	Omaha Public Schools	55.1%
Houston, Texas	Houston ISD	54.6%
Portland, Ore.	Portland School District	53.6%
Las Vegas, Nev.	Clark County School District	53.1%
San Antonio, Texas	San Antonio ISD	51.9%
Chicago, Ill.	City of Chicago School District	51.5%
Tulsa, Okla.	Tulsa Public Schools	50.6%
Jacksonville, Fla.	Duval County School District	50.2%
Philadelphia, Pa.	Philadelphia City School District	49.6%
Miami, Fla.	Dade County School District	49.0%
Oklahoma City, Okla.	Oklahoma City Public Schools	47.5%
Denver, Colo.	Denver County School District	46.3%
Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Public Schools	46.1%
Atlanta, Ga.	Atlanta City School District	46.0%
Kansas City, Mo.	Kansas City School District	45.7%
Oakland, Calif.	Oakland Unified	45.6%
Los Angeles, Calif.	Los Angeles Unified	45.3%
New York, N.Y.	New York City Public Schools	45.2%
Dallas, Texas	Dallas ISD	44.4%
Minneapolis, Minn.	Minneapolis Public Schools	43.7%
Columbus, Ohio	Columbus Public Schools	40.9%
Baltimore, Md.	Baltimore City Public School System	34.6%
Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Municipal City School District	34.1%
Indianapolis, Ind.	Indianapolis Public Schools	30.5%
Detroit, Mich.	Detroit City School District	24.9%
50-City Average		51.8%

NOTE: Graduation rates are calculated using the Cumulative Promotion Index method with data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data. Rankings are based on non-rounded statistics.

SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2008

Graduation Rates in the Metropolitan Areas of the Nation’s 50 Largest Cities

City	Urban Graduation Rate	Suburban Graduation Rate	Urban-Suburban Gap (% points)
Baltimore, Md.	34.6%	81.5%	47.0
Columbus, Ohio	40.9%	82.9%	42.0
Cleveland, Ohio	42.2%	78.1%	35.9
New York, N.Y.	47.4%	82.9%	35.5
Denver, Colo.	46.8%	80.9%	34.1
Philadelphia, Pa.	49.2%	82.4%	33.3
Indianapolis, Ind.	49.7%	80.5%	30.9
Chicago, Ill.	55.7%	84.1%	28.4
Oklahoma City, Okla.	52.9%	81.2%	28.3
Milwaukee, Wis.	54.5%	82.5%	28.1
Detroit, Mich.	47.9%	75.0%	27.1
Tulsa, Okla.	50.6%	76.0%	25.4
Boston, Mass.	58.1%	83.0%	24.9
Omaha, Neb.	65.0%	87.3%	22.4
Jacksonville, Fla.	50.2%	71.5%	21.3
Wichita, Kan.	59.6%	80.8%	21.2
Los Angeles/Long Beach, Calif.	57.1%	77.9%	20.7
Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas	55.8%	74.7%	18.9
Minneapolis, Minn.	63.5%	80.7%	17.2
Fresno, Calif.	60.3%	76.2%	15.9
Atlanta, Ga.	46.1%	61.8%	15.7
Virginia Beach, Va.	59.2%	73.9%	14.6
Washington, D.C.	63.9%	78.2%	14.2
Sacramento, Calif.	65.7%	79.7%	14.0
Kansas City, Mo.	68.4%	82.2%	13.8
Portland, Ore.	62.1%	75.4%	13.3
Austin, Texas	64.7%	77.5%	12.9
Charlotte, N.C.	59.8%	70.5%	10.7
Seattle, Wash.	57.6%	67.4%	9.8
Houston, Texas	61.6%	71.0%	9.3
San Francisco/Oakland, Calif.	73.2%	81.2%	7.9
San Antonio, Texas	62.9%	70.2%	7.2
Nashville, Tenn.	77.0%	82.8%	5.8
San Jose, Calif.	80.9%	84.1%	3.2
El Paso, Texas	66.0%	68.0%	2.1
San Diego, Calif.	70.4%	71.3%	0.9
Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz.	70.5%	70.4%	-0.1
Tucson, Ariz.	66.0%	65.6%	-0.4
Albuquerque, N.M.	60.8%	55.9%	-5.0
Memphis, Tenn.	61.7%	55.5%	-6.2
Colorado Springs, Colo.	83.7%	73.5%	-10.2
Louisville/Jefferson Co., Tenn. *	—	69.4%	—
Las Vegas, Nev. ©	—	53.1%	—
Miami, Fla. **	—	53.6%	—
Honolulu, Hawaii ©©	—	64.1%	—
50-Metro Area Average	58.0%	75.4%	17.4

* The Louisville-Davidson County metropolitan area is served by a combination of suburban and rural school districts.

© The Las Vegas metropolitan area coincides with Clark County, Nev., which is served by a single school district classified as suburban by the U.S. Department of Education.

** The Miami metropolitan area is served by three countywide school districts, all classified as suburban by the U.S. Department of Education.

©© Honolulu’s metropolitan area includes all of Hawaii and is served by a single statewide school district, classified as suburban by the U.S. Department of Education.

NOTE: Graduation rates (2003-04) are calculated using the Cumulative Promotion Index method with data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data.

SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2008

Comments

[maria somers]

I would like to contact Collin Pawell to come to our graduation ceremony and give a speech. How do I contact him. We are a school of a large number of minority. I would love him to come and give our students a wonderful exit speech.

[Dr. Sapphire]

To: Tennessee Republican Party
From: Dr. Sapphire who is not yet ‘really’ proud of the USA
RE: Michelle Obama ‘really proud of America’ expression unappreciated

Mrs. Michelle Obama appears to be a real patriot of the USA. She expressed that she is feeling ‘really’ proud these days of her country. I imagine her viewing masses of Americans of all complexions, ages, economic classes and cultures getting involved in a campaign to change some of what is bad in American just thrills her. However, the Tennessee Republican Party is targeting her to launch just another confederate based anti- patriot campaign aimed again to block the Barack Obama movement for change.

I offer you views of the USA that makes your form of patriotism distasteful. The USA continues to treat their poor children of all complexions poorly. A poor country like CUBA provides universal health care and education through college ‘free’ to all of their children. The USA does not. I am not proud of this reality.

I am not proud of the USA ‘wall building’ to block the entrance of Mexicans who are poor because the Europeans stole over half of their best lands. We owe the Mexicans!

I am not proud of the USA 51st state of zion called Israel. The worst European apartheid state of the new century is supported with our taxes while Americans go without health care. The European Jews are victims of a European (Germany orchestrated) genocide, not an Arab genocide. Why does the USA support this state that terrorizes Palestinians?
I am not proud because these millions of dollars should be used to either support a one state democratic Palestine, or to subsidize medications to the Elders here at home.

I am not proud of much of the USA history and current events like the Iraq war, the blocking of medications to Cuba, and the Burma regime like treatment of the victims of Katrina who are still homeless and unsettled, and its racist immigration policies.

I have a list of reasons why I am still not ‘really’ proud of my country that my ancestors’ slave labor helped to build. Our government still pressures for reparations to the white Miami Cubans and white Jews but not for black African Americans & brown Mexicans.
Shameful!
I am not proud of the USA fork tongue foreign policy...supporting apartheid Isarel, dictatorships in Saudi Arabia and Egypt but then wants to attack Venezuela and Cuba.
I am not proud of the multi-million dollar bribe of the Egyptian regime. This money could be used in Tennessee to build homes and award tuition for low income children.

Mrs. Michelle Obama would most likely not agree with my political views and may even consider my views ‘appalling’. Still, I am one of many African women in the USA who will not stand by and allowed you to harass Mrs. Obama, or any African Americans’ woman on the issue of patriotism, without consequences. African American women all over the global African Diaspora are prepared to organize on the Tennessee Republican Party to teach you why many of the African American mothers, sisters, grand-mothers, and daughters have not always been ‘really’ proud of the USA.
Yet, our love for America maybe the only reason God is giving this wealthy empire time to get its affairs in order. However, African Americans love for our country tends not to be displayed by the flag waving arrogance that insisted on dehumanizing our people and other peoples for centuries. The Tennessee GOP rendering of patriotism is to a racist, imperialist and white supremacy America. This form of patriotism is prayerfully fading into a beautiful multi-cultural mosaic of complexions of peoples who know that wealth and freedom is sufficient to share with all Americans, including you. Be not among the foolish! Come Tennessee GOP, and your likes, to join the campaign for a just change.

Michelle Obama is probably one of the best USA ‘patriots’ you will find among African American women. In comparison, there are those, as myself, who are proud to say that I do not care a morsel for the concept of patriotism to any nation. Other than the global nation of people of justice, truth, liberty and freedom, who may live anywhere on earth, national patriotism is akin to tribal arrogance. The USA governments have the ability to do much more to do to advance real democracy, justice, equality, and peace to kindle national patriotism in my mind. So, appreciate Mrs. Obama’s pride in her nation! I too am proud of the American peoples coming out for a change from the old Tennessee GOP politics.

Finally! Again! You will not now be allowed to blemish the honor of our beloved sister, Michelle Obama, to promote your confederate agenda under that transparent flag of colonial patriotism, without overwhelming responses from the women of Africa!

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