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Contact: Carmon Cunningham
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BOSTON STANDS UP FOR EXCELLENT HIGH SCHOOLS FOR ALL STUDENTS
Jobs for the Future helps lead national effort to engage all Americans in high school crisis
Boston, MA – Boston-based Jobs for the Future today announced its participation in a national campaign to address America’s education crisis. STAND UP is a community-based coalition of more than 50 organizations, districts, and schools around the country, calling on all Americans to demand excellent high schools that prepare every student for college, work, and citizenship.
STAND UP is designed to mobilize parents, teachers, principals, community leaders, concerned citizens, business leaders, policymakers and philanthropists to become part of the solution. The STAND UP Web site (www.standup.org) provides valuable information and resources to help make sure high schools are serving all students well.
JFF directly addresses this critical issue through a number of initiatives. JFF has just released Making Good on a Promise: What Policymakers Can Do to Support the Educational Persistence of Dropouts. Contrary to the popular notion that high school dropouts are unmotivated and do not value education, this new report finds that most dropouts are remarkably persistent in their drive to complete their education. Nearly 60 percent of dropouts eventually earn a high school credential – in most cases a GED. In addition, almost half of those that earn secondary credentials later enroll in two- or four-year colleges. Yet for all their effort, less than 10 percent of those dropouts who enroll in postsecondary education earn a degree, a critical factor in securing a well-paying job in today’s economy.
“The educational system is failing young people twice,” said Marlene B. Seltzer, president and CEO of JFF. “Too often, schools do not keep them engaged in learning the first time around; then when they try to go back and complete their education the system provides inadequate options. Anyone who demonstrates such persistence ought to have every opportunity to better themselves and contribute something positive to society. And everyone deserves the quality education promised to them.”
JFF also partners with the Youth Transition Funders Group in its multi-city Strategic Assessment Initiative for struggling students and out-of-school youth. As the national partner in that initiative, JFF works with Boston and several other cities to improve outcomes and options for disconnected youth, address race and class inequities, and gain national visibility for this important systemic work.
As a new Time/The Oprah Winfrey Show poll reveals, Americans are increasingly troubled by the state of the nation’s high schools. Nine in 10 adults in the survey called the dropout rate a serious problem. In Boston, an estimated nearly 1,000 students (9th-12th grade) leave school each year. Those who do graduate need more education than their grandparents just to maintain the same standard of living, yet only one in three ninth-graders actually leave high school in four years ready for the rigors of college and the working world.
“The public perception is that there is little anyone can do to help young people who leave school get back on track,” said Adria Steinberg, associate vice president of JFF and one of the authors of the report. “In fact, we could do so much more by building educational pathways that give them a legitimate second chance.”
JFF is committed to improving high schools in Boston so all students are prepared for success in college and work. JFF is a core partner in Boston’s High School Renewal initiative. Since 2003, JFF has partnered with the Boston Public Schools—and specifically with the Office of High School Renewal—to guide the development of Boston's portfolio of high schools and inform the ways in which the district manages and supports diverse options of schooling.
As a result of these efforts, 25 out of 34 public high schools in Boston have fewer than 500 students, and the five large comprehensive high schools have organized into small learning communities of fewer than 400 students each. Boston’s portfolio of high schools is increasingly broad and diverse, including pilot, Horace Mann charter, exam, alternative, and small and large district high schools.
STAND UP builds on the growing momentum around high school reform. The STAND UP Web site provides information about the state of the nation’s high schools and offers specific ways for people to become a part of the solution. Visitors to the Web site can:
- Send an e-mail urging governors to support high schools that serve all students well;
- Download a parent toolkit, which provides information and tips about how to make a difference in a teenager’s education;
- Download a community action toolkit, which provides information and guidance on how to mobilize a community for change; and
- Purchase a unique, wearable STAND UP medallion to show support for the hopes and dreams of the nation’s young people. (Proceeds from the sales of the medallion will go to a new fund, the STAND UP Scholarship Fund.)
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JOBS FOR THE FUTURE is a Boston-based nonprofit that seeks to accelerate the educational and economic advancement of youth and adults struggling in today’s economy. JFF partners with leaders in education, business, government, and communities around the nation to: strengthen opportunities for youth to succeed in postsecondary learning and high-skill careers; increase opportunities for low-income individuals to move into family-supporting careers; and meet the growing economic demand for knowledgeable and skilled workers.
STAND UP is a national, multi-year community-based campaign for excellent high schools that prepare all students for future success. Comprised of more than 50 organizations throughout the country, the effort is committed to enlisting the support of the American people in tackling America’s education crisis. The multi-pronged effort will include print and television advertising, a Web site with resources for parents and concerned citizens to become engaged in education improvement efforts, and local campaign events around the country. STAND UP is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other national organizations, with creative work and direction from the non-profit Public Interest and others.
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