Travis Hedtke, the At-Risk Counselor at Eau Claire Memorial High School, poses for a photo in a classroom at the school.
Listen to Travis Hedtke speak about the reasons high school students drop out.
Listen to Bert Samora explain why he wants to earn his High School Equivalency Diploma.
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The U.S. Department of Education describes what it means to drop out, who's counted as a dropout, how the numbers are calculated, and statistics on dropouts.
High school dropouts earn half of those who graduate
By Leah Rado
radolc@uwec
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction reported in 2005 that 800,000 adults over the age of 25 had not earned a high school diploma.
Among them is 28-year-old Eau Claire resident Bert Zamora.
Zamora has always wanted to be a writer. He has been writing books in his spare time for as long as he can remember. In high school, he dreamed of seeing his work in print.
Then, a few months before graduation, his girlfriend became pregnant with his child and moved to Iowa. He followed her, giving up on high school and, for the time being, his dream.
“I paid attention in school; I just skipped quite a bit,” Zamora said. “When you’re a kid, you really don’t think you need to be there.”
Zamora is one of 3.8 million – 10.7 percent – of 16- to 24-year-olds in the United States that was not enrolled in and had not completed a high school program, according to a 2001 survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. A lack of a high school diploma can be costly. In 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the lifetime earnings for high school dropouts would be $1 million, compared to $2.1 million for those with a bachelor’s degree.
Local impact
The number of dropouts in the Eau Claire Area School District has been rising over the past few years. In the 1998-99 school year, 12 students in the district dropped out. That number climbed to 21 students in 1999-2000 and stood at 25 in the 2001-02 school year.
Travis Hedtke, the at-risk counselor at Eau Claire Memorial High School, deals with students looking to drop out. He said that the numbers might be a bit deceiving.
“Technically, you can’t drop out of school until you’re 18,” Hedtke said. “I just had a parent come in to fill out the paperwork to withdraw (her son), but technically, he can’t, because he’s not 18. That’s where it becomes a habitual truant compared to a drop out.”
Hedtke said that the district defines truants as students who have unexcused absences for three days or any portion of three days. This policy is a city ordinance and may result in a $50 fine if not followed.
Last year, 10-12 students of Memorial’s 1,800 to 1,900 students dropped out, Hedtke said.
“One thing to look at with numbers is habitual truants compared to dropouts,” he said. “A habitual truant who has not been here but one day in the last three weeks might as well be called a dropout, but they’re not; that’s not how it is defined.”
Hedtke cited attendance, lack of home support and the background of the parents as reasons kids choose to drop out.
“We try our best to serve (at-risk) kids, but at points, they aren’t real receptive. The parents aren’t real receptive,” Hedtke said. “You’ll find that with some of those dropouts, their parents didn’t finish high school and are not real supportive.”
A survey of 467 high school dropouts from around the United States found that about one-third were failing in school when they quit. Irrelevant class work and classes that weren’t challenging enough were the main reasons given for quitting. And some, like Zamora, quit because they or their significant other become pregnant.
“A lot of these kids don’t understand the value of education right now,” Hedtke said. “Those students who drop out or don’t graduate on time get out there and start working, maybe in a fast food restaurant, and realize that they can’t make it with the education level that they have. Then the education becomes a value.”