Federal Funds Fuel High School Improvement Plans
Education Department Adds Millions to Curtail Dropouts
In the first wave of funding under a revitalized high school graduation initiative, the U.S. Department of Education is betting nearly $50 million that it can help states and school districts find better ways to hang onto students who might drop out and bring back those who have disappeared without diplomas.
Twenty-nine states and districts won grants last month of up to $3 million to work with schools whose dropout rates exceed their state average. The $46.6 million is envisioned as the first year’s installment on five-year grants, although subsequent years’ funding isn’t guaranteed, since the grants depend on the federal budget.
Crossing its fingers that the program maintains its current support for at least a few years, the Education Department hopes to use it to exert leverage on high school graduation rates, which hover around 70 percent nationally and can sink below 50...
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