Can Public Universities Curb High School Dropout Rates?

Posted by on June 13, 2006

As U.S. high school dropout rates eek ever upward, University of Buffalo President John B. Simpson, says two changes in perspective have take place to reverse this alarming trend in an Op-Ed he penned for The Christian Science Monitor.

First, he says, "we must acknowledge that more than just being a weakness in public secondary education, today's dropout rate signifies a societal crisis of the first order - one that is leading to the steady erosion of American democracy."

Then, he adds, "we must engage a broader set of institutions to collaborate on solutions to the underlying causes of the crisis. A major step in this direction would be to ask what role our nation's institutions of higher education - and especially public universities - might play."

Universities, he says, have the intellectual, financial, and human resources necessary to play an educational leadership role.

Read the full piece by clicking here.