Student Profile: Paul J. Jones

"Most kids drop out because most teachers don’t understand how life is. Maybe they forgot since they were kids. But now kids have to pay the electric bill and put gas in the car while they’re trying to stay in school at the same time."

Paul, 17, was getting decent enough grades in elementary school, but kept misbehaving. He disrupted class and cussed out the principal. By 6th grade, he had transferred to Pacers Academy, an Indianapolis alternative middle and high school with smaller classes and a more active approach to learning. He did much better there.

Several later attempts to make it in traditional middle and high schools didn’t go well, however. He...