For Those Out of School, Out of Work – A Second Chance

More than 170,000 of this city’s young people are drifting – disengaged from any framework that would provide them with the means to live a productive and stable life.  They are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market.  Their prospects are meager and their future is grim.    

The Community Service Society issued a report last year – “Out of School, Out of Work... Out of Luck?  New York City’s Disconnected Youth.” (PDF)   The report revealed that young black and Latino males ages 16 to 24 are more than twice as likely as white males to be caught in this limbo.

Many of them are high school dropouts.  According to the New York City Department of Education, the city’s youth have a graduation rate of slightly more than 50 percent.  A new study by Education Week puts that number at only 39 percent, compared to a graduation rate of about 70 percent for the nation as a whole.  While there is some disagreement about the actual magnitude of the dropout problem, one thing is clear: our education system leaves too many young people inadequately prepared for a job.

It has been found that most high school dropouts don’t get past the 9th or 10th grades.  In fact, by the time they reach high school, it’s often too late to improve their chances for success in the classroom and beyond.  Most leave school without the skills necessary for employment. 

Substandard Education

Even graduation from high school does not ensure a place in the labor force.  Of those who do complete high school, less than 10 percent of black and Latino young people graduate with a Regents diploma, the best preparation for employment or higher education.  In our society, joblessness – and poverty - can always be traced to a substandard education.  

The best way to reduce the number of dropouts is by early intervention.  Only by better preparation in the early grades will students be able to function successfully in high school and beyond.  But those who have already been damaged by this dysfunctional education system must not be abandoned.

The most pressing concern for dropouts is a job.  First, they need a way to earn a living. Then, they need to complete their high school education - at least a GED – and go on to further training. 

We need a series of second chance programs that focus on dropouts, as well as those moving from welfare to work and the formerly incarcerated coming out of prison with little prospect of a job.  These programs, shaped to the needs of different groups of the disconnected, should provide training and education with stipends.  Basically, we would be subsidizing education for those that did not get adequate training while in school.

Provide stipends
for education

There are a number of ways to help those who have left school and aren’t intent on returning.  The Commission on Construction Opportunity – first proposed by the Community Service Society - was created by Mayor Bloomberg to ensure that all New Yorkers, especially people of color, can gain access to good construction jobs. 

In an unprecedented move, the construction unions have agreed to commit specific percentages of apprenticeship slots to disconnected young people, women, graduates of city high schools, and returning service men and women.  A recent story in The New York Times showed how this model could be used to create a pipeline to other well-paying occupations, such as automotive repair, equipment servicing, transportation, and the unionized security sector – none of which require a college degree.

Transforming Voc Ed

The city’s Education Department should mount an all-out campaign to reduce high school dropout rates, especially among young males.  This should include remedial programs at middle schools, work-study programs, mentoring, and, most urgently, vocational education.

In our latest survey of low-income New Yorkers, “The Unheard Third,” nine out of 10 respondents supported quality technical and vocational education programs in high schools. 

The city recently proposed a new vocational education initiative and is developing specific educational curriculums for its new High School for Construction Trades, Engineering, and Architecture.  This is an innovative new model that will lead to good jobs.  Some graduates may even go on to become professionals in engineering and architecture. 

While we applaud these recent efforts, much more is needed to upgrade vocational education so that it is geared to the world of jobs.  Given the extent of the problem, the city’s new initiatives must be extensive enough to make a real difference. 

From the New York Amsterdam News
June 29 - July 5, 2006