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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Are Minnesota School Drop-Out Rules Failing?

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Monday, March 10, 2008   

St. Paul, MN – Stay in school! That's the goal of legislation being introduced today, to raise the age at which a Minnesota teen can drop out of high school from 16 to 18. Senate sponsor Chuck Wiger believes a solid education is the key to success in life.

Students drop out for various reasons, he explains -- they're failing, or bored; they may have family economic pressures, or just don't see the link between education and future quality of life. Statistically, Wiger says the highest drop-out rates are among African American, Latino and Native American students. He feels it is critical that Minnesota schools narrow the achievement gap by making it tougher to leave school.

"We need this because nearly 5,000 students drop of school in Minnesota each year, and that is a high cost to our state. More fundamentally, it puts those students at risk because they aren't likely to have the skills to get jobs that will pay them a livable wage; and that will likely lead to being on public assistance, and could make them vulnerable to incarceration."

Wiger estimates students who don't finish high school are responsible for almost $4 billion in lost wages, lower tax revenue and lost productivity over their lifetimes. A state that prides itself on its quality of education, he says, should take steps to ensure all its students succeed.

St. Paul School Superintendent Meria Carstarphen supports the higher drop-out age. She says current attendance laws are outdated and hurt efforts to help students reach their potential.

"When we look at it in terms of education, it's the student's personal education that will help them do things like make better choices in life, be prepared for college, be prepared for the workplace. We know that drop-outs earn less and experience a poorer quality of life; and it's not just those individuals who suffer. There is significant cost to the communities and states in which they live, as well as society at large."

Opponents argue some teens, who feel school isn't right for them, should have the option to leave early.



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